SERAP Seeks UN Intervention Over Rising Insecurity. The rights group said the United Nations should invoke Article 99 of the UN Charter over rising insecurity ravaging Nigeria.
KaNo —
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.
“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.”SERAP said
It added that the scale of the crisis had gone beyond domestic concern.
SERAP Seeks UN Intervention Over Rising Insecurity
“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 added
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.
SERAP Seeks UN Intervention Over Rising Insecurity
In describing 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.
It also referenced reports of attacks in Benue State where students and travellers were abducted en route to university entrance examinations, as well as bombings in Maiduguri, Borno State, which reportedly killed at least 23 people and injured more than 100 others.
SERAP further highlighted killings and raids in Katsina and Adamawa states, noting that coordinated attacks had left dozens dead and many others abducted, describing the trend as evidence of a “rapidly deteriorating” security situation.
The crisis in Nigeria is not merely a domestic law-enforcement issue,” the organisation said, warning that cross-border movement of armed groups, displacement and instability now have regional consequences across West Africa,” SERAP said.
“there is no effective protection of people and communities, with frequent reports of a pattern of large-scale violence across multiple states.”it added
SERAP also pointed to growing international concern, noting previous UN statements condemning attacks in Nigeria and urging accountability for perpetrators, alongside warnings that insecurity was worsening humanitarian conditions and food insecurity across the region.
The organisation argued that the Secretary-General’s previous invocation of Article 99 in other global crises underscored its relevance in situations involving large-scale civilian harm and regional destabilisation.
SERAP therefore urged Guterres to place Nigeria’s insecurity before the Security Council, request regular briefings on attacks and displacement, and push for coordinated international monitoring of the humanitarian situation.
It also called for strengthened civilian protection measures, independent investigations into attacks, accountability for perpetrators, and international support to prevent further escalation of violence.
The appeal comes as Nigeria continues to grapple with recurring mass abductions, rural attacks and insurgent violence across several regions, raising fresh concerns over state capacity to protect civilians and contain widening insecurity.
Experts Faults Tinubu’s Claim On Insecurity
A security and intelligence expert, Yahuza Getso, has disagreed with President Bola Tinubu’s claim that progress is being made in tackling insecurity across the country
Getso stated this during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Friday.
“I quite disagree with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that progress is being made because the reality is that 95 to 98 percent of the criminals operating in the North Central and North-Western parts of the country are known”
They can be profiled by polling units, political wards and local governments. We know their names, they are citizens of Nigeria and they can be reached,” he said.
His remarks come amid renewed attacks by suspected bandits in several parts of the country, including the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers, as well as the reported beheading of a teacher.
Getso further argued that security agencies possess the technological capacity to track and apprehend criminals through communication channels.
“In fact, even a negative commentator on Facebook can be traced through communication channels and service providers such as MTN, Airtel and Glo” he added
“What has been delaying this? Why has Jagaban intentionally refused? As far as I’m concerned, it is an intentional refusal to go after these criminals where they are and deal with them through their polling units, political wards and so on,” he stated.
Speaking further, the security expert questioned claims that highways across the country are safe, citing ongoing attacks in parts of the North despite political activities taking place without disruption.
“Remember that the APC, PDP, NDC and ADC primaries and congresses were conducted in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Niger and other places, yet nobody was attacked during those activities” he said
