2.4.1. Abia

2.4.1. Abia

Abia state is comprised of the following 17 LGAs: Aba North, Aba South, Arochukwu, Bende, Ikwuano, Isiala Ngwa North, Isiala Ngwa South, Isuikwuato, Obi Ngwa, Ohafia, Osisioma Ngwa, Ugwunagbo, Ukwa East, Ukwa West, Umuahia North, Umuahia South and Umunneochi. The capital city is Umuahia.1257

Igbos comprise 95 % of the population.1258

UNFPA and the US Census Bureau projected the population of Abia in 2022 at 4 143 093, based on figures from the 2006 census.1259

a) Conflict dynamics and main actors

For a general overview on actors in Nigeria, please see section 1.1 Main Actors.

Sources ranked Abia state among the country’s five safest states during the period from 2011 to 2024 (KDI)1260 and among the least violent within the Niger Delta in terms of conflict-related fatalities,1261 which decreased from 26 in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 11 in the first quarter of 20251262 before marginally rising to 13 in the following quarter (PIND).1263 Drivers of insecurity were incidents linked to separatist militias,1264 criminality (including kidnappings), communal violence1265 and cult/gang-related clashes.1266

In 2024, Abia was reportedly one of the Niger Delta states most affected by violence linked to separatist militias,1267 which included incidents that the authorities attributed to the banned IPOB movement1268 and its armed wing, the ESN.1269

Referring to the South-East in general, a Nigerian senior security advisor interviewed by EUAA in July 2025 stated that IPOB was now generally viewed as ‘less combative’ than in the past and appeared not to have been implicated in most of the recent attacks against federal security personnel. According to this source, these attacks seemed to have been carried out either by criminal organisations ‘masquerading’ as Biafran agitators (using Biafran symbols and flags) or by elements linked to the so-called Biafran Republic Government In Exile (BRGIE) of the Finland-based Biafran agitator Simon Ekpa.1270 For more information on BRGIE, see section 1.1.3 Non-state armed actors.

In May 2024, deadly disputes over land and boundaries erupted as communities in Arochukwu LGA clashed with communities in Odukpani LGA (Cross River state)1271/Eket LGA (Akwa Ibom state).1272 Further deadly clashes over land-related issues were reported during the first quarter of 2025 in what PIND described as a ‘resurgence of communal violence’, involving communities in Ikwuano, Isuikwuato and Obi Ngwa LGAs.1273

Civil society organisations reported of ‘escalating attacks’ by suspected Fulani armed bandits and herdsmen on local communities, including in Isuikwuato, Umunneochi, and Obi Ngwa LGAs, also noting the occurrence of kidnappings and farm destruction.1274 March 2025 witnessed the kidnapping of four individuals by gunmen in Obi Ngwa LGA.1275

b) Security incidents and impact on the population

In the period from 1 January 2024 to 31 August 2025, ACLED recorded 96 security incidents in Abia state that resulted in a total of 118 fatalities. Of these incidents, 51 were coded as battles, 7 as explosion/remote violence, 7 as riots, and 31 as violence against civilians.1276

Security incidents were recorded by ACLED in all 17 LGAs of the state, with the highest number documented in Aba South LGA (22 incidents), followed by Umuahia North (12) and Umunneochi (also spelled Nneochi) LGAs (8 incidents). According to ACLED, unidentified armed groups, IPOB, unidentified cult militias, and military and police forces (coded as either ‘Actor1’ or ‘Actor2’) were involved in the vast majority of incidents coded as violence against civilians.1278

Over the year 2024, PIND recorded 13 incidents attributed to separatist militants that resulted in more than 40 fatalities,1279 while Nigeria Watch recorded 34 such deaths, the fourth-highest figure among all states.1280 These incidents included deadly clashes during (suspected) separatist militant attacks targeting the security forces,1281 some of which also resulted in civilian casualties.1282

Several fatalities resulted from ‘security breaches’ in Umunneochi LGA in June 20251283 and a July 2025 attack on a Chinese-operated construction site in Isuikwuato LGA by suspected kidnappers wearing military camouflage and armed with assault rifles.1284 Moreover, several fatalities arose from violence linked to rivalries between cults/gangs in various locations across Aba North LGA.1285

In May 2024, six civilians were among those killed in a surprise attack by alleged IPOB members targeting a security checkpoint1286 in Aba North LGA,1287 while attacks by unidentified gunmen targeting a police patrol in Aba South LGA killed four civilians in July 20241288 and June 2025.1289 Suspected kidnappers killed a driver working for a Chinese company in Isuikwuato LGA in July 2025.1290 At least seven people died in communal clashes in May 20241291 and February, March 20251292 and June 2025.1293

Conflict-related infrastructure damage - Civil society organisations reported of farm destruction by suspected armed herdsmen.1294

Road security -The reference period saw activities of criminal elements on the Abia stretches of the Ikigew (Imo state)–Umunneochi axis1295 and the Enugu-Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway.1296

Displacement, movement and return - No information could be found on numbers of individuals affected by conflict-induced displacement in Abia state during the reference period. Following a deadly November 2024 attack by gunmen on an army checkpoint in Umuahia South LGA, youths of the Ekenobizi community deserted the area due to fears of a retaliatory military attack on the community.1297 No information could be found on returns in Abia state during the reference period.

c) State response in maintaining law and order

Civil society organisations highlighted that the security forces demonstrated ‘alarming inertia’ in responding to attacks by herdsmen on communities across the South-East.1298 While the state government officially denied having engaged the ESN to fight insecurity,1299 ESN launched a campaign against the Fulanis in the forests of the South-East, reportedly dislodging over 70 Fulani herder and criminal settlements in forests across the South-East zone in 2024.1300 Meanwhile, sources noted that security forces launched at least two raids on IPOB/ESN camps1301 and reportedly killed an IPOB leader,1302 while the reference period also saw several suspected criminals being arrested during raids on their hideouts in Ugwunagbo1303 and Umuahia North LGAs.1304