At least 78,962 persons sought asylum in Nigeria from 2000 to 2024, The PUNCH has learnt.

This is based on a collation of published data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for the period reviewed.

The records, compiled from its decades-long tracking of forcibly displaced populations, reveal Cameroon, Niger and Liberia as the top three countries of origin for asylum seekers during this period.

Nigeria’s National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons is the primary agency that manages asylum requests with oversight from the Nigerian Immigration Service, guided by UNHCR’s global frameworks.

Founded in 1989, during the Babangida regime, NCFRMI says it is “dedicated to ensuring that their rights are upheld and that they receive the support necessary to live in safety and dignity.”

The data showed that 52,187 Cameroonian nationals lodged the highest number of applications to Nigeria. In 2017, over 8,000 Cameroon nationals applied for asylum in Nigeria. The numbers jumped again in 2019 (over 19,000) and peaked in 2023 (over 22,000), with the majority located in Madagali, Mubi North, Mubi South and Michika local government areas in Adamawa State.

This surge coincides with the ongoing conflict in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, which began in late 2016 but escalated around 2017. Thousands fled across the border into Cross River and Taraba states, where humanitarian organisations report acute needs in shelter, healthcare, and education.

Cameroonian refugees are predominantly from the North-West and South-West regions of the country, affected by the conflict between the government and activists calling for the secession of the Anglophone regions.

According to rights groups, over 700,000 Cameroonians have been displaced since the war broke out in September 2017.

While Cameroon dominates the overall total, Niger Republic ranked second with a total of 11,327 asylum requests. 2023 figures showed a significant jump in applications from the Sahel nation, with about 9,800 requests.

This likely reflects the fallout of the military coup that ousted former President Mohamed Bazoum and other forms of instability in the Sahel.

A closer look at the data from earlier years (2000–2010), Liberia featured prominently, reflecting the aftermath of West Africa’s civil wars during that era.

Liberia is third with 4,308 applications, concentrated in the early 2000s.

Other regional hotspots include the Democratic Republic of the Congo (3,356), Central African Republic (1,609), Sierra Leone (975) and Chad (610). Other nationals include those from Mali (461), Côte d’Ivoire (408) and Togo (319), Guinea (72), Eritrea (71) and Sudan (486), where fighting broke out between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have in April 2023.

While African countries dominate the list, countries like Syria, Lebanon and the State of Palestine appear in small but consistent numbers across the timeline. For instance, 1,797 Syrians applied for asylum over the same 24-year period, with smaller groups from Türkiye (456), Lebanon (126), Somalia (23), Rwanda (22), Egypt (20), Yemen (10), Pakistan (10), Turkmenistan (5), Ukraine (5) and Afghanistan (5).

In July 2024, The PUNCH reported that at least 23,465 foreign nationals, primarily children, sought asylum in Nigeria. This comprised 5,629 urban refugees and 17,836 asylum seekers. The UNHCR says they comprised 9,430 children, 5,689 men and 2,706 women.

“Trends indicate a minimal desire for repatriation among urban refugees (only two repatriated over a three-year period),” the UN said.

As a signatory to the 1951 Geneva Convention, Nigeria grants refugee status and asylum to deserving parties fleeing persecution and conflict from their respective states.

In May 2019, the Nigeria Immigration Service produced the first set of Convention Travel Documents—also called Refugee Passports—to be issued to refugees under the protection of Nigeria by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons.

The CTD enables affected persons to reside in Nigeria lawfully or any of the remaining 148 countries that are signatories to the treaty.

However, “during mass movements of refugees, usually as a result of conflict or violence, it is not always possible or necessary to conduct individual asylum procedures and interview every asylum-seeker,” says the UNHCR.

A former Nigerian Ambassador to Singapore, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, told our correspondent that while it is impossible to keep out all refugees and asylum seekers, border control agencies such as the immigration service must be highly alert for infiltrators.

Amedu-Ode explained, “Nigeria is a signatory to the appropriate international instruments, conventions and treaties that grant favour to asylum seekers, especially those under persecution.

“And we’re aware of all of the people from Cameroon, where there’s some kind of civil unrest and agitation. The same goes for Sudan, Syria and some parts of Lebanon too. So, based on those international conventions, Nigeria is obliged to admit and grant them asylum to secure them from persecution.

“However, I think given the situation we face in Nigeria, the relevant agencies should have their eyes peeled to watch out for people who might be used to infiltrate the Nigerian space for any negative objectives and agenda.”


https://punchng.com/78000-cameroonians-others-sought-asylum-in-nigeria-un-report/