West and Central Africa — Lake Chad Basin Crisis Monthly Dashboard 60 (January 2024)

The crisis currently affecting the Lake Chad Basin states results from a complex combination of factors, including conflict with non-state armed groups, extreme poverty, underdevelopment and a changing climate, which together have triggered significant displacement of populations.

As of January 2024, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria were hosting an estimated 6,032,932 affected individuals made up of internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees (former IDPs and returnees from abroad) and refugees (both in- and out-of-camp). Thirteen per cent of the affected population (775,089  individuals) were located in Cameroon, while 5 per cent resided in Chad (288,334 individuals), 9 per cent in Niger (513,149 individuals) and finally, 74 per cent in Nigeria (4,456,360 individuals). Overall, the numbers show increases in returnees from abroad (+4%) and a decrease in refugees (-9%) since December 2023.