Amnesty International has called on President Bola Tinubu to take urgent action after terrorists abducted at least 1,100 people in northern Nigeria between January and April this year.
The human rights organisation released the figures on Saturday in a press release that highlights a sharp rise in abductions for ransom.
Terrorists have targeted rural communities and internally displaced persons across several states, and many victims have faced killings, looting and destruction of property alongside their capture.
The report lists attacks in Kwara, Zamfara, Borno, Niger and Kaduna states.
On 3 February terrorists entered Woro village in Kaiama local government area of Kwara and killed 200 people before they abducted 176 others.
A resident later told investigators that the group took his second wife and three daughters, one of them aged two.
The family has waited almost two months without news of their release.
In Zamfara state terrorists abducted 150 people, most of them women and children, during attacks on Kurfa Danya and Kurfan Magaji villages in Bukkuyum local government area.
On 19 February they took another 92 people in separate incidents in Anka and Tsafe local government areas.
On 30 March terrorists stopped a commercial bus travelling from Abuja to Sokoto and abducted 18 passengers along the Mayanci road in the same state.
Borno state saw two major incidents linked to Boko Haram terrorists.
On 3 March they abducted more than 400 people when they attacked Ngoshe town in Gwoza local government area.
On 19 March they seized over 100 internally displaced persons who had gone to search for firewood in Kumbul forest near Mafa.
Terrorists also struck in Niger state on 3 January, when they abducted 57 people in Kasuwan Daji community in Borgu local government area.
In Kaduna state they abducted 30 people on 22 March after they attacked three churches in Kachia local government area.
Earlier, on 18 January, terrorists took 166 worshippers from three churches in Kurmin Wali village in Kajuru local government area; those hostages were later freed.
Isa Sanusi, director of Amnesty International Nigeria, said the pattern has shifted toward large numbers of abductions that bring in ransom money.
Families often sell their belongings or organise community collections to pay, while those who cannot pay sometimes die, disappear or suffer further abuse.
The organisation notes that many cases in remote areas go unreported. The threat has also affected daily life.
Thousands of children have stopped attending school because they fear abduction, and some families have withdrawn girls early to arrange marriages as protection.
Amnesty International states that Nigerian authorities have failed to protect citizens and meet their duties under the constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Sanusi said this failure amounts to a serious breach of the government’s human rights obligations.
The organisation has urged the Tinubu administration to act immediately to stop the cycle of abductions and bring those responsible to justice.
