• Super Admin
• 08 Mar, 2026

At least 37,911 Nigerian refugees have returned home from Cameroon, Niger and Chad since 2019, with 1,705 recorded in January 2026 alone. This is according to the latest repatriation dashboard published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The UNHCR Lake Chad Basin data, released late February and obtained by Sunday PUNCH, showed that despite the steady flow of returns, 406,672 Nigerian refugees remain scattered across the three neighbouring countries. According to the data, the affected Nigerians were displaced by more than a decade of violence by Boko Haram and other non-state armed groups operating in the North-East. Niger hosts the largest concentration at 258,356 refugees, followed by Cameroon with 126,349 and Chad with 21,967. The majority of the displaced Nigerians originated from Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, the three northeastern states that have borne the brunt of the Boko Haram insurgency since 2009. The UNHCR data revealed that the returns have been facilitated through a combination of spontaneous movements, tripartite agreements between Nigeria and host countries, and bilateral arrangements driven by the Nigerian government. In Cameroon, organised returns continue under a Tripartite Agreement signed in 2017, with 3,043 Nigerians returning through the framework in 2026. Returns from Chad grew significantly after a Tripartite Agreement was finalised in 2025, following which over 7,000 refugees were bilaterally repatriated in February 2025 alone. In Niger Republic, however, a draft Tripartite Agreement with Nigeria and the UNHCR is currently pending review. However, the Federal Government proceeded with the formal framework, bilaterally repatriating over 17,000 refugees from Niger between April and November 2025, the largest single-country return operation recorded in the data dashboard. The bilateral push from Niger came amid strained diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Niger's military junta, which seized power in July 2023 and has since pursued an independent foreign policy, including withdrawal from ECOWAS and closer ties with Mali and Burkina Faso. Despite the returns, a UNHCR survey of 71,222 Nigerian refugees across the three countries found that only 32 per cent, approximately 23,000 individuals, expressed willingness to return home. The finding suggests that more than two-thirds of the displaced population remain reluctant to go back, likely due to continuing insecurity in the northeast where attacks by the Islamic State West Africa Province and Boko Haram splinter groups persist, and where much of the infrastructure destroyed during the conflict has not been rebuilt. According to the UNHCR data, the key return corridors include crossings at Banki, Pulka, Madagali and Maiha in Adamawa and Borno states from Cameroon; Damasak, Gashigar and Kulluk from Niger; and Ngala from Chad. The northeast remains one of Africa's and the world's largest displacement crises. In addition to the 406,672 refugees in neighbouring countries, the National Emergency Management Agency and the International Organisation for Migration have previously estimated that over two million Nigerians remain internally displaced within the country. Source: https://punchng.com/1705-nigerian-refugees-returned-in-2026-report/