The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has urged the Secretary-General of the United Nations, United Nations, António Guterres, to report Nigeria’s worsening insecurity to the UN Security Council, citing escalating killings, abductions and a deepening humanitarian crisis across the country.
SERAP made the call in an open letter dated May 30, 2026, signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, urging Guterres to invoke Article 99 of the UN Charter to formally bring Nigeria’s situation before the global body.
The organisation argued that the scale and persistence of violence in Nigeria now pose a threat to international peace and security, warning that the crisis has outgrown a domestic law enforcement challenge.
It stated, “The scale, persistence, and regional implications of the insecurity and grave human rights crisis in Nigeria pose a threat to international peace and security.”
According to SERAP, the insecurity—marked by mass abductions, killings, attacks on civilians and large-scale displacement—has affected several states, including Oyo State, Benue State, Borno State, Plateau State, Kaduna State and Zamfara State.
The group warned that cross-border movements of armed groups and weapons, as well as mass displacement, are increasingly destabilising the wider region.
Highlighting recent incidents, SERAP cited the May 15, 2026 attack on schools in the Ahoro Esinele community in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, where at least 25 pupils and seven teachers were abducted, while an assistant headmaster was killed.
It also referenced the abduction of students and travellers in Benue State en route to write their university entrance examinations, as well as bomb explosions in Maiduguri, Borno State, which reportedly killed no fewer than 23 persons and injured over 100 others.
The organisation further noted separate coordinated attacks in Katsina and Adamawa states that left dozens dead.
SERAP stressed that the United Nations had previously raised concerns over Nigeria’s humanitarian situation, noting that persistent violence has displaced millions, disrupted livelihoods and worsened food insecurity.
The group recalled Guterres’ recent invocation of Article 99 over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, arguing that a similar step should be taken on Nigeria to compel urgent international action.
It maintained that under international law, the Nigerian government bears responsibility for failing to prevent and respond adequately to recurring violence by non-state actors.
SERAP, therefore, called on the Security Council to place Nigeria on its formal agenda, mandate regular briefings on the security situation, and compel the Federal Government under President Bola Tinubu to meet its human rights obligations and provide reparations to victims.
The organisation added that despite huge budgetary allocations to defence, Nigeria’s security system has remained largely reactive, allowing armed groups to operate with increasing impunity in both rural and urban communities.
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