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.
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.
It added that “there is no effective protection of people and communities, with frequent reports of a pattern of large-scale violence across multiple states.”
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.
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