Human Rights Watch says in a report that the attacks by Boko Haram are having a devastating impact on the population of north-eastern Nigeria.
Quoting United Nations figures, it says some 300,000 people have fled their homes over the past year.
"Even if the government can't stop the attacks, at the very least, it can meaningfully assist the people who have been most devastated by them," says HRW's Africa director Daniel Bekele.
Boko Haram was founded in Maiduguri in 2009. It wants northern Nigeria to become an Islamic state.