The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned that worsening insecurity across the Lake Chad Basin is threatening years of fragile progress, with rising violence driving displacement and deepening humanitarian needs across the region.

Speaking at a press briefing in Geneva on Friday, UNHCR Deputy Director for West and Central Africa, Andrew Wyllie, said more than 3.5 million people are currently displaced across the basin, while about 8.2 million require humanitarian assistance.

According to the agency, security incidents across the region rose by 80 percent between January 2024 and April 2026. Between September 2025 and May 2026, nearly 1,800 security incidents and more than 5,700 deaths were recorded, including attacks on civilians, kidnappings, village raids, explosions and clashes involving armed groups.

UNHCR identified Borno State in northeastern Nigeria as the epicentre of the crisis, citing repeated attacks by non-state armed groups, ongoing military operations and increasing insecurity along major roads and displacement routes. The agency added that insecurity has also spread to Nigeria’s North-West and parts of the Middle Belt.

Since January 2026, more than 77,500 people have been newly displaced across Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. The agency said over 16,000 refugees fled northeastern Nigeria to Niger’s Diffa region, where humanitarian organisations are providing emergency assistance.

The UNHCR expressed concern over the growing impact on civilians, particularly women and children. It said one in five households no longer feels safe in its community, while nearly half of children in the worst-affected areas are out of school. In Chad’s Lac Province, school exclusion exceeds 78 percent.

Wyllie commended governments in the region for keeping their borders open to people fleeing violence and said the UNHCR continues to support displaced families through protection services, emergency assistance, documentation and reintegration programmes where conditions permit.

However, he warned that humanitarian operations remain underfunded, with the agency requiring $29 million through December 2026 to sustain critical operations and support regional stabilisation efforts.

“Without timely and flexible support, protection gaps will widen, displacement will continue to spread across borders, and the risk of a more entrenched regional crisis will increase,” Wyllie said. “The trajectory remains deeply concerning, but it is still reversible with sustained support now.”