2.4.4. Enugu

2.4.4. Enugu

Enugu state is comprised of the following 17 LGAs: Aninri, Awgu, Enugu East, Enugu North, Enugu South, Ezeagu, Igbo Etiti, Igboeze North, Igboeze South, Isiuzo, Nkanu East, Nkanu West, Nsukka, Oji River, Udenu, Udi and Uzo Uwani. The capital city is Enugu. 1400

The majority of the population is Igbo.1401

UNFPA and the US Census Bureau projected the population of Enugu in 2022 at 4 690 053, based on figures from the 2006 census.1402.

a) Conflict dynamics and main actors

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

While Enugu state’s governor maintained that Enugu continued to be one of the country’s safest states,1403 the situation in some parts of Enugu was described as marked by growing ‘insecurity’.1404 According to a Nigerian senior security adviser interviewed by EUAA in July 2025, the ESN has reduced, if not dislodged, the Fulani presence in the forests of the South-East with considerable success, apparently contributing to a reduction in incidents of kidnappings by Fulani elements across the South-East. However, parts of Enugu state still experienced incidents involving forest-based criminal groups.1405

Referring to the South-East in general, the Nigerian senior security advisor stated that IPOB was now generally viewed as ‘less combative’ than in previous years and appeared not to have been implicated in the majority of recent attacks against federal security personnel. According to this source, these attacks seemed to have been carried out either by criminal groups ‘masquerading’ as Biafran agitators or by elements linked to Simon Ekpa’s BRGIE.1406 For more information on the BRGIE, see section 1.1.3 Non-state armed actors.

During the reference period, unidentified gunmen carried out multiple deadly attacks targeting police forces1407 and vigilantes1408 and assassinated the chairperson of the traders’ association of Enugu’s largest market.1409 Meanwhile, clashes erupting from a long-standing land dispute between two communities in Udi and Enugu South LGAs in July 2025 left one person dead.1410

b) Security incidents and impact on the population

In the period from 1 January 2024 to 31 August 2025, ACLED recorded 133 security incidents in Enugu state that resulted in a total of 135 fatalities. Of these incidents, 43 were coded as battles, 10 as riots, and 80 as violence against civilians.1411

Security incidents were recorded by ACLED in all 17 LGAs of the state, with the highest number documented in Isi Uzo LGA (24 incidents), followed by Enugu North (18), Nsukka (14), Uzo Uwani (13) and Udi (12) LGAs. According to ACLED, unidentified armed groups, Fulani ethnic militias and police forces (coded as either ‘Actor1’ or ‘Actor2’) were involved in the majority of incidents coded as violence against civilians.1413

In 2024, according to Nigeria Watch, Enugu recorded close to 25 fatalities arising from ethnic and communal violence, the third-highest figure across all states.1414 While the same source listed Enugu as one of the states experiencing the fewest fatalities specifically related to herder–farmer clashes in 2024,1415 suspected armed herdsmen carried out a deadly attack on a community in Uzo Uwani LGA in April 2024.1416 In June 2025, Eha-Amufu (Isiuzo LGA)1417 saw at least two deadly attacks by suspected armed herdsmen.1418 Nsukka LGA reportedly saw a ‘spate of killings, kidnappings, and other violent crimes’.1419 Amongst others, an attack by suspected armed herdsmen resulted in four deaths in Uzo-Uwani in April 2024,1420 while the June 2025 attacks in Eha-Amufu (Isiuzo LGA) claimed between 111421 and more than 14 lives.1422

According to Nigeria Watch, the state recorded 50 fatalities related to pro-Biafran agitation in 2024, the third-highest figure among the five states of the South-East zone.1423

Conflict-related infrastructure damage - A renewed land dispute in Enugu South LGA in May 2025 resulted in the destruction of property in the Etiti-Ngwo community.1424

Road security - The reference period saw gunmen abducting 11 bus passengers on the Amechi-Idodo axis of the Enugu–Abakaliki expressway, an area that has become notorious for kidnappings.1425

Displacement, movement and return - As of 31 August 2025, no information could be found on numbers of individuals affected by conflict-induced displacement in Enugu state during the reference period. Attacks on communities in Uzo Uwani LGA and Eha-Amufu have prompted displacements.1426 The April 2024 attack in Uzo Uwani left the stricken community deserted as villagers abandoned their houses for fear of further attacks.1427 No information could be found on returns in Enugu state during the reference period.

c) State response in maintaining law and order

Civil society organisations observed that the security forces demonstrated ‘alarming inertia’ in responding to attacks by herdsmen on communities across the South-East.1428 Despite a campaign launched by the ESN against Fulani criminal elements in the forests of the South-East, parts of Enugu state still experienced incidents linked to forest-based criminal groups, a Nigerian senior security advisor told EUAA in July 2025.1429 Meanwhile, security forces arrested dozens of suspected IPOB/ESN members1430 and killed members of the pro-Biafra separatist faction led by Simon Ekpa.1431

The security forces killed and arrested suspected kidnappers,1432 dismantled a criminal hideout operating under the guise of a place of worship,1433 arrested suspected informants of militant herders who had attacked communities in June 2025,1434 and foiled at least one armed robbery.1435 Moreover, the The Enugu State Boundary Committee resolved a long-running land dispute between two communities in Nkanu East and Nkanu West LGAs.1436