At least 792 people were killed in 882 security incidents across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in June 2026, while the military killed 274 insurgents, according to a new report by SARI Global, a risk intelligence and security analysis firm.
The report said the Islamic State West Africa Province launched a coordinated campaign in the Monguno axis of northern Borno, cutting off humanitarian aid from reaching hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons.
The report, titled Nigeria Monthly Security Overview for June 2026 and obtained by The PUNCH, described the Monguno axis, covering Monguno, Cross Kauwa, Baga and Kukawa, as the country’s main humanitarian flashpoint. It blamed ISWAP’s nighttime raids and daytime burning of aid cargo along the Monguno-Gajiram road.
According to the report, June opened with 217 incidents in the first week. The second week, from June 8 to 14, recorded the highest number of incidents at 278 and the highest death toll.
“June opened at an elevated baseline and escalated through its first half before settling into a violent plateau.
“The first week recorded 217 incidents, and activity climbed sharply in the second week, which was the most intense of the month, with 278 incidents recorded and the peak fatality total.
“The tempo concentrated on a handful of days, 14, 8, 11 and 13 June, when insurgent attacks, banditry and heavy state operations coincided across multiple theatres.
“The arc of the month was therefore front-loaded, with the security apparatus containing but never reversing the early escalation, and lethality remaining high into the fourth week on the back of sustained rural attrition in the North-West,” the report stated.
The report said the month’s most significant incident happened on June 24 when ISWAP fighters entered the 20 Units Housing area of Monguno at night and kidnapped an international NGO worker and a local guard. It said the attack showed detailed knowledge of humanitarian workers’ locations and security arrangements.
It added that fighters later burned two NGO-contracted trucks on the Monguno-Gajiram road on June 29 after another aid cargo attack on June 18. The report said the destruction of food supplies was aimed at frightening vendors, stopping them from working with aid groups and limiting supplies to IDP communities.
“Running in parallel, ISWAP sustained a campaign of daytime supply-route interdiction along the Monguno to Gajiram road. Following an arson attack on June 18, fighters operating informal vehicle checkpoints torched two NGO-contracted commercial trucks on Jun 29, executing these operations in broad daylight and exploiting the limited presence of government forces.
“The deliberate destruction of food cargo is a calculated tactic to intimidate commercial vendors, deter them from engaging with humanitarian actors, and restrict the flow of essential commodities to the garrison towns of Monguno, Cross Kauwa, Baga and Kukawa,” SARI Global stated.
Government-affiliated forces were linked to 375 of the 882 incidents, the highest share, driven by arrests, seizures and law-enforcement operations. Deaths were recorded as follows: government-affiliated forces, 274; non-state armed actors, 337; civilians, 64; criminal actors, 30; unknown actors, 86; and political actors, one.
The report said non-state armed actors caused the highest number of deaths despite carrying out fewer attacks. It warned, “A busy security apparatus is not the same as an improving environment.”
Borno recorded the highest figures with 109 incidents and 172 deaths, followed by Zamfara with 63 incidents. Plateau recorded 51 incidents, Katsina 44, Lagos 40, the FCT 36, Rivers 32, Oyo and Sokoto 31 each, and Niger 29.
SARI Global also warned of growing threats to schools. It said ISWAP fighters attacked Government Day Secondary School in Lassa, Askira/Uba LGA, on June 29, kidnapping students and teachers in broad daylight.
“The failure to detect the group’s movement before the assault, and the absence of a rapid security response, reflect severe constraints in local surveillance, early-warning and community-alert mechanisms.
Each successful abduction of this kind emboldens replication,” it said, advising the government to “Treat all educational sites in peripheral LGAs near ISWAP strongholds as elevated-threat settings. Organisations with education or child-protection programming should reassess site security, the visibility of their association with targeted institutions, and movement timing, and should not rely on state protection frameworks that have repeatedly failed to detect or interdict these assaults”
The report also said an INGO worker was attacked during food distribution in Banki, Bama, on June 5 by someone left off the beneficiary list. It described this as part of growing “beneficiary aggression” and warned the risk would increase as food shortages worsen.
Across the North-West, 67 insurgent-style ambushes and explosive attacks were recorded, including an IED attack on the Bagega-Anka road in Zamfara on June 15. It said the spread of IED tactics into Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi poses a growing threat to humanitarian supply routes.
In the South, Lagos, Rivers and Oyo recorded lower-death but steady levels of crime, protests and road crashes. The FCT’s 36 incidents were mainly linked to civil unrest tied to the 2027 election cycle, with the territory identified as a growing centre for politically driven protests.
Looking ahead, SARI Global said humanitarian needs will continue to outpace response capacity in July as food shortages deepen and ISWAP keeps disrupting aid supply routes.
