At least 484 people, including 271 children, were displaced after armed bandits attacked Gummi Local Government Area of Zamfara State on June 15, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The IOM said the attack forced 101 households to flee from Gamo Gidan Bita in Birnin Magaji Ward to Ubandawaki in Magaji Gari Ward. A rapid assessment carried out a day after the incident found that children accounted for more than half of those displaced.
Among the affected population were 271 children, 129 women and 84 men. Women and girls made up the majority of those displaced, while infants were also among those forced to leave their homes.
The report recorded five casualties during the attack, including three deaths and two injuries. It identified food, emergency shelter and essential household items as the most urgent needs of the displaced families.
The latest incident adds to the growing humanitarian crisis in Nigeria's North-West. According to IOM data, more than 143,000 people have been displaced across the region between December 2025 and June 2026, bringing the total number of internally displaced persons to over 794,000.
The organization said the violence is linked to long-standing conflicts between farmers and herders, ethnic tensions, and increasing competition over land and water resources, worsened by climate change, desertification and population growth.
Separate data also showed that thousands of people were displaced by similar attacks in neighbouring Katsina State, while livestock migration across Katsina and Zamfara continued to increase during the same period.
Security challenges remain severe across Zamfara and other North-West states, with kidnapping and armed attacks continuing to affect communities despite ongoing security operations. Humanitarian agencies have called for urgent assistance to support displaced families and improve protection for vulnerable communities.
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