Nigeria

Nigeria’s mine action programme remains in its early stages, although significant progress was made in 2024 and in the first half of 2025. A national coordinator was appointed in 2024 to lead the newly established National Mine Action Centre (NMAC), which is mandated to manage and coordinate all mine action activities in the country. In June 2025, Nigeria submitted its third Article 5 deadline extension request under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC), which included a work plan developed with the help of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS). Funding has been secured to train two survey and clearance teams composed of seconded officers from the Nigerian Police Force and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), although additional resources are still needed to fully equip them for operations. Nigeria is also developing national mine action legislation with support from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). A draft law, prepared in 2024, was under review by the Ministry of Defence at the time of writing.

• Nigeria should accelerate development of its national mine action strategy and not wait until 2027.

• Nigeria should maximise in-country capacity by enabling qualified international and national mine action organisations to support survey, particularly non-technical survey (NTS), even if restrictions on handling explosives remain in place.

• Nigeria should develop a dedicated resource mobilisation strategy to guide funding with clear targets and plans for partner engagement, including a framework for coordination with donors.Nigeria should adopt and implement a gender and diversity policy for its mine action programme, supported by an action plan for mainstreaming into survey, clearance, and risk education.

• Nigeria should consider the environmental impacts of clearance and outline mitigation measures.

• Nigeria should improve the consistency and timeliness of its reporting under Article 7 of the APMBC, including by submitting outstanding reports covering 2023 and 2024.

Click here to download the "Clearing the Mines 2025" report for Nigeria.