“Act Now”: SERAP Urges UN Security Council Intervention Over Nigeria’s Escalating Insecurity
Abuja, Nigeria – The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to urgently bring Nigeria’s worsening insecurity before the UN Security Council, warning of severe humanitarian consequences and risks to regional stability.
In a strongly worded appeal, SERAP said the scale and persistence of violence across Nigeria — including abductions, killings, enforced disappearances, and attacks on communities — require immediate international attention.
“The continuing insecurity across Nigeria has resulted, and continues to result, in devastating loss of life, destruction of communities, and widespread fear affecting millions,” the organisation stated. “The persistence of these attacks, their humanitarian consequences, and their implications for regional stability require urgent international attention.”
Citing international human rights obligations, SERAP stressed that governments are not only required to avoid direct violations but must also actively protect citizens from harm. “Under international human rights law, state responsibility extends beyond refraining from direct violations. Nigerian authorities may incur responsibility where they fail to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, punish, and remedy abuses by non-state actors where risks are known or reasonably foreseeable,” it said.
The organisation argued that Nigeria’s security challenges are neither new nor unpredictable. “The recurring pattern of abductions, attacks, enforced disappearances, killings, and violence across Nigeria demonstrates that these risks are well known, repeatedly documented, and foreseeable,” SERAP noted.
It warned that failure to take preventive and accountability measures raises “serious concerns under international human rights law including the UN Charter.”
Call for UN Action
SERAP urged Guterres to invoke his authority under Article 99 of the UN Charter to formally bring Nigeria’s situation before the Security Council without delay.
Among its recommendations, the organisation called for regular public briefings to the Council on insecurity and humanitarian conditions in Nigeria, as well as systematic reporting by relevant UN bodies on attacks, displacement, and their broader impacts.
SERAP also pressed Nigerian authorities to take urgent steps to protect civilians, secure the release of abducted persons, and ensure prompt, independent investigations into incidents of violence.
The group emphasised the need to end impunity, calling for accountability for perpetrators and reparations for victims and affected communities.
“It demonstrated the importance of timely action where national crises have cross-border consequences, including displacement and insecurity,” SERAP added, warning that continued inaction could further destabilise the region.
The appeal comes amid ongoing concerns about widespread insecurity in Nigeria, which has continued to strain humanitarian conditions and challenge the capacity of authorities to ensure safety across affected areas.
