Thousands of people in parts of Nasarawa State have been forced to leave their homes on foot after a fresh wave of armed bandit attacks, leaving entire communities empty and residents stranded without shelter.
Eyewitnesses and video footage obtained on Friday showed long lines of villagers—mostly women, children, and elderly—walking along a major rural road, desperate to find safety as panic swept through the area.
Local sources say official displacement figures are too low, insisting the crisis is much worse than reported.
“There are more than 3,000 people that have been sacked, but that number is not accurate. These people are more than 6,000 or 7,000,” one witness said in the footage, pointing to the steady flow of fleeing residents.
The witness, who said the attacks hit communities around the Green River axis in Nasarawa, described the scene as chaotic and heartbreaking.
“We have been driving for several minutes and people are still coming out. They are leaving everything behind. Many of them don’t even know where they are heading,” he added.
The footage showed families carrying babies, bags, and whatever belongings they could grab, with no security personnel in sight along the road.
These attacks have caused mass displacement and highlighted how vulnerable rural communities remain to repeated attacks by armed gangs.
“Most of these people don’t have anywhere to sleep. They have no shelter. This is very, very bad,” the witness said, adding that many who stayed behind may not yet realize the full scale of the crisis.
Residents blamed the insecurity on government failure, accusing political leaders of ignoring ordinary Nigerians while focusing on elections.
“The common people are the ones suffering, the poor masses. Meanwhile, politicians are concerned about elections. Their families are safe, but look at what is happening to these people,” another voice in the video said.
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