Abidjan – The border area between Benin, Niger and Nigeria became a new centre of jihadist violence in 2025, with a sharp increase in attacks, according to a new study published on Thursday.
Both groups have long been concentrated in the Sahel countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger but are now spreading to west Africa’s coastal countries.
“ACLED data indicate that this expansion has entered a new phase marked by entrenchment and the transformation of littoral border regions into a flashpoint of violence,” said Heni Nsaibia, senior analyst for west Africa.
“Sahelian jihadist militants have escalated, entrenched, and increasingly broadcast their footprint.”
The increase in attacks has been seen in areas such as Alibori and Borgou in northern Benin, the Dosso region of southern Niger, and the Nigerian states of Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger and Kwara.
Cross-border attacks by jihadists from Niger and Burkina Faso against the military made last year “the deadliest year to date” in Benin, the research indicated.
In Niger, JNIM and EIS conducted operations as far as the outskirts of the capital, Niamey, including one at the international airport in January.
JNIM last year also claimed responsibility for the first time for an attack on Nigerian soil, said Nsaibia.
He blamed the increase in violence on “limited state presence” as well as weakened regional cooperation since Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger withdrew from the ECOWAS west African bloc.
The forest reserves and national parks which straddle the border of all three countries also helped, he said, allowing the groups to evade army offensives.
The jihadists are consolidating their presence in the border area through recruitment across ethnic and linguistic lines, by co-opting local bandits and control of smuggling routes, particularly of fuel from northern Nigeria to the Niger river and Benin, the study said.
US strikes last December in the northwest Nigerian state of Sokoto against IS-linked fighters demonstrated Washington’s desire to put the brakes on the jihadist expansion towards the coast, and keep a regional presence, said Nsaibia.
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Source: AFP
