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The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) urged the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, “to urgently invoke Article 99 of the United Nations Charter and bring to the attention of the United Nations Security Council Nigeria’s growing insecurity, marked by mass abductions, killings, attacks against civilians, mass displacement and other serious human rights violations.”
The pressure group said the deteriorating security situation across Nigeria has reached a level that threatens international peace and security, warning that continued attacks on civilians, large-scale displacements and growing instability could further destabilize the West African sub-region if urgent action is not taken.
In an open letter dated 30 May 2026, signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization argued that the scale, persistence and regional implications of insecurity in Nigeria now justify direct intervention by the United Nations Security Council through the powers vested in the Secretary-General under Article 99 of the United Nations Charter.
SERAP said growing insecurity and gross human rights violations in Nigeria are reflected in repeated abductions, killings, attacks on civilians and mass displacement in states including Oyo State, Benue State, Borno State, Plateau State, Kaduna State and Zamfara State.
According to the organization, Article 99 was specifically designed for situations where emerging or ongoing crises require urgent preventive diplomacy, sustained international oversight and coordinated international action.
“The scale, persistence and regional implications of the insecurity and severe human rights crisis in Nigeria pose a threat to international peace and security and risk exacerbating existing threats in the region,” the letter reads.
SERAP argues that years of violence and armed conflict in different parts of the country have created immense human suffering, widespread community destruction and deep psychological trauma for millions of Nigerians.
The organization argued that formally placing Nigeria’s worsening insecurity on the Security Council’s agenda would strengthen the credibility of the United Nations system and ensure sustained international attention to attacks against civilians, including abductions, killings and displacements.
He stressed that the crisis has evolved beyond a challenge to national law enforcement, noting that cross-border movements of armed groups and weapons, large-scale displacement, weakening of rule of law institutions and deteriorating human rights conditions have transformed it into a regional security concern.
“There is no effective protection of people and communities, with frequent reports of a pattern of large-scale violence across multiple states,” SERAP said.
The organization described Nigeria as a country facing a severe and worsening security emergency, characterized by repeated mass abductions of schoolchildren, teachers, women, commuters and rural residents, along with attacks on villages and farming communities, killings by armed groups and criminal networks, and widespread displacement.
To illustrate the gravity of the situation, SERAP cited the recent abduction of pupils and teachers in Ahoro Esiele community in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
According to the organization, gunmen attacked Community Grammar School, Baptist Nursery and Primary School and LA Primary School on or around May 15, 2026, abducting at least 25 pupils and seven teachers in coordinated raids.
The group said a vice-principal was killed in the attack, while another teacher later died in captivity.
SERAP further recalled that distressing videos later emerged showing one of the abducted teachers, identified as the vice-principal of the Community Grammar School, publicly appealing to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Seyi Makinde and Nigerians to secure the release of the victims.
According to the organization, the abductees were held in harsh conditions and exposed to extreme weather conditions while their captors called for intervention.
SERAP said the incident demonstrated the devastating human consequences of recurring attacks against schools, children and education workers, while underlining the urgent need for stronger protection and accountability measures.
The organization also referred to reports that gunmen recently abducted secondary school students and other travelers in Benue State while they were on their way to take their university entrance exams.
It also highlighted the intensification of attacks by non-state armed groups in the North-East, North-West and North-Central regions.
Among the incidents cited include the recent bomb blasts in Maiduguri, Borno state, which reportedly killed at least 23 people and injured more than 100.
The organization said these attacks were accompanied by repeated assaults on military formations, attacks on internally displaced persons camps, abductions of women and children, and killings of civilians in rural communities.
SERAP also highlighted recent attacks in Katsina State, where gunmen reportedly killed at least 10 people, including women and children. Separate, coordinated raids reportedly left at least 20 more people dead and led to the abduction of residents.
Accordingly, SERAP urged Guterres to immediately exercise his authority under Article 99, to facilitate regular and public Security Council briefings on insecurity and humanitarian conditions in Nigeria, to request systematic reporting by relevant United Nations bodies on attacks and displacements, and to call on the Nigerian authorities to take urgent measures to protect civilians and secure the release of abducted persons.
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