‘Refer Nigeria to Security Council over abductions, killings,’ SERAP urges UN chief

May 31, 2026

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres “to urgently invoke Article 99 of the UN Charter and bring Nigeria’s escalating insecurity—marked by mass abductions, killings, attacks on civilians, mass displacement, and other grave human rights violations—to the attention of the UN Security Council.”

SERAP 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.”

In the open letter dated 30 May 2026 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “The scale, persistence, and regional implications of the insecurity and grave human rights crisis in Nigeria pose a threat to international peace and security and risk aggravating existing threats in the region.”

SERAP said, “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.”