About UNHCR in Nigeria

The Government of Nigeria leads the response to protect and assist refugees and asylum-seekers within its territory. UNHCR provides direct operational support, capacity development, and technical advice to the Nigerian authorities.

As the Refugee Agency, UNHCR, in collaboration with the Government of Nigeria, also coordinates efforts by UN agencies and partners to support Nigeria’s refugee and IDP response in a sustainable manner that includes access to self-reliance activities, skills development and other initiatives.

In Nigeria, the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and IDPs-NCFRMI, not UNHCR, is responsible for receiving and processing asylum applications, registering asylum seekers, deciding on their asylum claims and issuing documentation to asylum seekers and refugees.  UNHCR collaborates with the Office of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), the national agency that manages Nigeria’s asylum system.

UNHCR is present in Nigeria to assist the Government in protecting and providing solutions for refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons, and returnees.

Services and Assistance to Asylum Seekers and Refugees

UNHCR, through its partners, operates in six field locations in Abuja (head office), Maiduguri in the north, Ogoja in the south, and,  Lagos and Benue in the middle belt.

Protection Counselling Services

For those in the Abuja area, protection counselling services are provided in the NCFRMI office at the Federal Secretariat of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

Those in Kano, Adamawa (Yola), Borno (Maiduguri), Yobe (Damaturu), Benue (Makurdi), Cross Rivers (Ogoja and Calabar) Lagos, Ogun (Ijebu Ode), Kebbi, Kaduna, Taraba (Jalingo) receive protection counselling at the NCFRMI Offices in the respective states (See the addresses in last section).