Events in the year 2025 in Nigeria.
Federal government President: Bola Tinubu (APC) Vice President: Kashim Shettima (APC) Senate President: Godswill Akpabio (APC) House Speaker: Tajudeen Abbas (APC) Chief Justice: Kudirat Kekere-Ekun
Events January 5 January – Six soldiers and 34 militants are killed during an ambush by Boko Haram in Damboa, Borno State. 7 January – Two people are killed in a bomb attack on a school in Bwari, Abuja. 11 January – At least 21 members of the Katsina Community Watch Corps are killed in an ambush by bandits in Baure, Katsina State. 13 January – At least 40 farmers are killed in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants in Dumba, Borno State. 13 January – At least 16 civilians are killed in an airstrike in Zamfara State. The military says it had accidentally hit the victims during an operation against militants. 18 January – Nigeria is admitted to BRICS as a "partner country". 2025 Suleja fuel tanker explosion: At least 98 people are killed after a crashed fuel truck explodes near Suleja, Niger State. 22 January – At least 20 people are killed in a Boko Haram attack on the village of Gadan Gari, Borno State. 23 January – The government officially designates the militant group Lakurawa as a terrorist organisation. 24 January – A flight operated by United Airlines from Lagos to Washington DC returns to make an emergency landing at Murtala Muhammed International Airport following a “technical issue and an unexpected aircraft movement”, injuring 38 people on board. 25 January – A fuel tanker crashes into 17 vehicles along the Enugu-Onitsha expressway in Enugu State and explodes, killing at least 18 people. 26 January – Malam-Fatori suicide bombing: At least 27 soldiers are killed in a suicide bombing by Islamic State – West Africa Province militants on a garrison in Malam-Fatori, Borno State.
February 2 February – Two buses collide on the Benin–Ore–Sagamu Expressway in Odigbo, Ondo State before catching fire, killing 30 people and injuring two others. 5 February – At least 17 children are killed in a fire at an Islamic school in Kaura Namoda, Zamfara State. 13 February – A truck falls into an overpass in Kano, killing 23 and injuring 48. 16 February – At least ten civilians are reported killed in an airstrike in Safana, Katsina State. The military says it had accidentally hit the victims during an operation against rebels. 19 February – The Netherlands agrees to repatriate 119 artefacts from the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, including some of the Benin Bronzes, to Nigeria. They are officially turned over in a ceremony in Edo State on 19 June. 22 February – A bus crashes into a petrol tanker near Kusobogi, Niger State, killing 14 people and injuring six others.
March
7 March – The Senate of Nigeria suspends Senator Natasha Akpoti for six months after she accuses Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her in 2023. The suspension is ordered lifted by a court in Abuja on 4 July. Catholic priest Sylvester Okechukwu is abducted and killed in Kaduna. 9 March – Eleven people are killed in attacks by Lakurawa militants on the Birnin Dede area of Kebbi State. 10 March – The Nigerian government signs a $200 million deal with WeLight to deploy renewable mini-grids in rural areas. 11 March – State authorities confirm an outbreak of meningitis in Kebbi State that has killed at least 26 people since January. Nigeria reports 535 Lassa fever cases and 98 deaths across 14 states, with a fatality rate of 18.3%, prompting renewed health advisories and contact tracing efforts. 18 March – President Tinubu, invoking an emergency, imposes a six-month suspension on Rivers State governor Siminalayi Fubara and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, citing inaction regarding attacks on oil pipelines. Former navy commander Ibokette Ibas is appointed as caretaker governor. 19 March – A truck crashes into 14 stationary vehicles near Abuja and catches fire, killing six people. 25 March – Twenty Cameroonian soldiers stationed on the Nigerian border town of Wulgo are killed in a raid by Boko Haram militants. 28 March – Sixteen people accused of being kidnappers are killed by a mob in Uromi, Edo State. Six people are killed during clashes between police and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria during one of the latter's demonstrations in Abuja.
April
2 April – President Tinubu dismisses the entire board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company. At least 48 people are killed in attacks on villages in Plateau State blamed on intercommunal clashes. 11 April – Gwaska Dankarami, a militant commander linked to Islamic State, is reported killed along with 100 other militants during a military operation in the Munumu Forest of Katsina State. 12 April – Eight people are killed in a roadside bombing targeting a bus along the Damboa-Maiduguri highway in Borno State. 13 April – At least 40 people are killed in an attack by suspected herders on Zike, Plateau State. 18 April – At least 56 people are killed in an attack by suspected herders in Benue State. 24 April – At least 20 people are killed in an attack by gunmen on the village of Gobirawa Chali in Zamfara State. 28 April – At least 26 people are killed after a truck hits a roadside bomb in Borno State. 29 April – Peter Nwachukwu, the husband of gospel singer Osinachi Nwachukwu, is sentenced to death by hanging in connection with her death in 2022. 30 April – Nigeria completes payment of a $3.4 billion emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund to finance its response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
May
8 May – At least 30 people are killed in an attack by suspected Indigenous People of Biafra militants on motorists travelling along the Okigwe-Owerri road in Imo State. 15 May – At least 57 people are killed in an attack by Boko Haram militants on two villages in Baga, Borno State. 18 May – My Father's Shadow, directed by Akinola Davies Jr. and co-written by his brother Wale, becomes the first Nigerian film to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival. 25 May – Twenty people are killed in an attack by gunmen on the village of Aondona in Gwer West, Benue State. 26 May – A suicide bomber detonates himself in front of the Abacha Barracks in Abuja, injuring another person. 29 May – 2025 Mokwa flood: At least 200 people are reported killed in flooding caused by heavy rains in Mokwa, Niger State. 30 May – At least 25 people are reported killed following flooding and landslides in Okrika, Rivers State. 31 May – A bus carrying athletes from the Nigerian National Sports Festival in Ogun State falls off the Chiromawa Bridge along the Kano-Zaria expressway in Kano State, killing at least 22 people. At least 20 vigilantes are killed in an airstrike conducted during operations against bandits in Maru, Zamfara State.
June
1 June – At least 45 people are killed in attacks by gunmen on two villages in Benue State. A Catholic priest is abducted along with several other travelers by Boko Haram following an ambush at a military checkpoint near Gwoza, Borno State that leaves one person dead. 12 June – President Tinubu grants a posthumous pardon to activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and other members of the Ogoni Nine who were executed by the military regime in 1995. 13 June – Over 100 people people are killed in an attack by gunmen on the village of Yelewata in Guma, Benue State. 20 June – A female suicide bomber detonates inside a restaurant in Konduga, Borno State, killing 12 people. At least 12 people are killed in a mob attack on a bus in Mangu, Plateau State. 24 June – Seventeen soldiers are killed during clashes with gunmen in Mariga, Niger State. 26 June – President Tinubu signs into law fiscal measures including a reduction in corporate tax to 25% from 30% and the exemption of low-revenue small businesses from company tax.
July
2 July – The African Democratic Congress is formed by Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi to oppose President Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress in the 2027 Nigerian general election. 6 July – Nine people are reported killed in an attack by Boko Haram militants on Malam Fatori, Borno State. A truck and a commercial vehicle carrying passengers collide along the Zaria-Kano expressway in Kano State, killing 21 people and injuring three others. 7 July – Nigerian bandit conflict: Over 70 vigilante group members are killed and others are reported missing in an ambush by bandits in Plateau State. 10 July – Nigerian bandit conflict: Around 30 gunmen are killed following clashes with security forces in Katsina State. 12 July – Special courts in Kanji, Niger State, sentence 44 people to up to 30 years' imprisonment for providing financial aid to Boko Haram. 15 July – Nigerian bandit conflict: Around 20 people are killed in an attack by gunmen on the village of Tahoss in Riyom, Plateau State. 18 July – Nigerian bandit conflict: Nine people are killed while at least 15 others are abducted in an attack by gunmen in Talata Mafara, Zamfara State. 22 July – The Senate approves a request by President Tinubu to borrow $21 billion from external sources to support the 2025 fiscal budget. Nigerian bandit conflict: Around 95 gunmen and one soldier are killed following clashes with security forces in Rijau, Niger State. 24 July – Gunmen ambush a vehicle returning from the weekly market in Bokkos, Plateau State, killing 14 people. 26 July – Nigeria wins its 10th Women's Africa Cup of Nations title after defeating Morocco 3-2 at the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations final in Rabat. A boat carrying marketgoers capsizes in Shiroro, Niger State, killing 25 passengers. Nigerian bandit conflict: Around 38 people abducted by bandits from the village of Banga in Zamfara State in March are reported killed despite having paid ransom money, while 18 other captives are released. 27 July – At least 25 people are killed while 11 others are reported missing following flash floods in Adamawa State. 29 July – A seven-day strike is launched by healthcare workers nationwide in protest over inadequate allowances, inadequate medical equipment and unsafe working conditions. 31 July – More than 1,600 parrots and canaries that were being smuggled to Kuwait are seized by the Nigeria Customs Service at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
August
4 August – Armed bandits raid five villages near Sabongarin Damri in Zamfara State, abducting at least 45 women and children and killing some villagers during an overnight assault. 8 August – Nigerian authorities arrest Dai Qisheng, a fugitive Chinese gang leader who fled China in 2024, and extradite him to China on 15 August under a joint Interpol operation. 12 August – The Nigerian military conducts raids in Zamfara State, killing an unknown number of armed bandits and several gang leaders following intelligence showing over 400 gang members preparing to attack a village. 16 August – Authorities announce the arrest of the leaders of the militant groups Ansaru and Mahmuda. 18 August – A boat carrying 50 passengers capsizes in Goronyo, Sokoto State, leaving 25 people missing. 19 August – At least 50 people are killed in an attack by gunmen on a mosque and villages in the Unguwan Mantau area of Katsina State. 23 August – At least 76 people are rescued from gunmen following airstrikes in Kankara, Katsina State. Two people are killed in an attack by gunmen in Gamdum Mallam, Zamfara State. 24 August – At least 35 militants are reported killed in airstrikes in Kumshe, Borno State, near the border with Cameroon. 26 August – The government imposes a six-month ban on the export of raw shea nuts as part of efforts to promote domestic industry. A passenger train derails in Abuja, killing one person and injuring six others. 29 August – At least 13 people die and 22 go missing when an overcrowded boat sinks in Birnin Magaji, Zamfara State while fleeing attacks by armed men.