Group Condemns Rising Landmine Casualties, Civilian Deaths

A global network of organisation that works to end gun violence, the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), has expressed concern over the escalating toll of landmines on civilians in Nigeria and across conflict-affected countries.

At a press briefing in Abuja, the country representative of IANSA, Dr Mimidoo Achakpa, warned that the recent global retreats from the 25-year-old Mine Ban Treaty could add flame to an already dire humanitarian crisis.

She revealed that the newly released Landmine Monitor 2025 Report presented a sad reality, explaining in the article, about five countries had taken a dangerous step away from the internationally accepted norm that prohibits the use of anti-personnel mines.

In the report, Achakpa said the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), 6,279 people were killed or injured globally in 2024, the highest annual figure since 2020. Civilians accounted for 90% of the casualties, nearly half of them children.

“This year’s report reinforces what communities already know too well, that landmines continue to claim lives long after conflicts end. The world cannot afford a reversal of commitments now. Nigeria’s experience shows that every landmine casualty is a human tragedy that ripples through families and communities,” she said.

The country representative who worried that the report has shown Nigeria recording significant casualties, particularly in the Northeast, also revealed that at least 418 civilians were killed or injured in 2024 across Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa due to landmines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and explosive remnants of war (ERW) linked to Boko Haram and ISWAP.

She explained that from August 2024 to January 2025, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) recorded an additional 101 victims in seven high-risk local government areas, adding that these casualties often occur on rural roads, farmlands, and return routes, with farmers, transport workers, traders, displaced persons and children most affected.