At least 21,807 foreign refugees and asylum seekers fleeing violence in neighbouring countries remain unregistered in Nigeria, denying them access to food assistance, healthcare and other essential services, the United Nations has revealed.
The figures, contained in the November 2025 UNHCR dashboard show that the unregistered asylum seekers, predominantly come from Cameroon’s conflict-torn Anglophone region.
The data revealed that Nigeria currently hosts a total of 127,000 refugees and asylum seekers from 41 countries, with 21,807 still awaiting registration by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, alongside 80,915 recognised refugees and over 25,000 asylum seekers whose cases are being processed.
Analysis of successive UNHCR dashboards reveals that the backlog of unregistered refugees has fluctuated over the past year, climbing from 21,095 in December 2024 to a peak of 32,750 in June 2025, a 55 per cent surge in six months, before declining to 21,807 by November 2025.