SERAP urges UN to act on Nigeria’s insecurity crisis

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has called on United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to urgently invoke Article 99 of the UN Charter, warning that Nigeria’s worsening insecurity now poses a threat to international peace and security. In a statement issued on Sunday via its official social media page and an open letter dated May 30, 2026, SERAP said the UN must bring Nigeria’s security crisis—marked by mass abductions, killings and displacement—to the attention of the Security Council without delay. The organisation said, “Nigeria’s escalating insecurity and grave human rights violations are reflected in repeated abductions, killings, attacks on civilians, and mass displacement in Oyo, Benue, Borno, Plateau, Kaduna, Zamfara, and several other parts of the country.” It added that the scale of the crisis had gone beyond domestic concern, arguing that “the scale, persistence, and regional implications of the insecurity and grave human rights crisis in Nigeria pose a threat to international peace and security.” SERAP said Article 99 of the UN Charter was designed for situations requiring urgent international action, stressing that Nigeria’s condition now demands preventive diplomacy and a coordinated global response. According to the organisation, “Article 99 of the UN Charter is designed precisely for situations in which emerging or ongoing crises require urgent preventive diplomacy, sustained international scrutiny, and coordinated international action.” It warned that years of violence across multiple states had created widespread humanitarian suffering and trauma, adding that the situation required urgent intervention to prevent further deterioration. In detailing the scale of violence, SERAP said Nigeria was facing repeated mass abductions of schoolchildren, commuters, women and rural residents, alongside killings and attacks on farming communities by armed groups and criminal networks. The group cited the recent abduction of pupils and teachers in Oyo State as an example of the deepening crisis, recalling that armed men attacked schools in Oriire Local Government Area, where “at least 25 pupils and seven teachers were abducted” while an assistant headmaster was killed. Related News FGM has no health benefits, violates human rights — Ekiti commissioner De-radicalisation camps where civilians are forced into B’Haram rehab 2027: ZLP presidential candidate vows to crush insecurity, end corruption It also referenced reports of attacks in Benue State where students and travellers were abducted en route to university entrance ex