The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to invoke Article 99 of the UN Charter in response to Nigeria's worsening security crisis. This appeal comes amid fresh incidents of banditry and abduction in Zamfara and Katsina states.
SERAP's Appeal to the UN
In an open letter signed by SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization urged the UN chief to bring Nigeria's deteriorating security situation—characterized by mass abductions, killings, attacks on civilians, displacement, and other grave human rights violations—to the attention of the UN Security Council. SERAP highlighted that the violence in Oyo, Benue, Borno, Plateau, Kaduna, Zamfara, and other parts of the country has reached alarming levels.
The organization argued that the scale, persistence, and regional implications of the violence pose a threat to international peace and security, with the potential to destabilize the broader region. According to SERAP, Article 99 of the UN Charter was specifically designed for situations requiring urgent preventive diplomacy, sustained international scrutiny, and coordinated global action.
“Our appeal is grounded in the preventive mandate of the UN Charter and the urgent need to address a rapidly deteriorating situation in the country,” the organization stated. Article 99 provides that “the Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.”
SERAP added that placing Nigeria's insecurity and human rights crisis on the Security Council's formal agenda would ensure sustained international attention to attacks on civilians, including killings, abductions, and displacement. “The crisis in Nigeria is not merely a domestic law-enforcement issue. Its effects increasingly implicate regional peace and security through cross-border movement of armed groups and weapons, large-scale displacement, growing instability extending beyond Nigeria's borders, and weakening human rights protection and rule-of-law institutions,” SERAP stated.
Arrest of Bandit Kingpin in Zamfara
Meanwhile, operatives of the Zamfara State Police Command's Violence Crime Response Unit (VCRU) arrested a suspected notorious bandit leader, Ali Bahago Danakulu, along with two alleged lieutenants in Kaura Namoda Local Government Area. Police spokesperson DSP Yazid Abubakar confirmed that the arrest followed credible intelligence on a criminal gang allegedly terrorizing residents of Kasuwan Daji and neighboring communities.
The arrested suspects were identified as Ali Bahago Danakulu and Hassan Dan Kure, both of Kasuwan Daji, as well as Dahiru Lawali of Gidan Ango. According to the police, the suspects had been on the command's watchlist for alleged involvement in armed robbery, banditry, and other violent crimes. Yazid said preliminary investigations indicated that the suspects belonged to an armed gang allegedly led by Ali Bahago, who had been linked to several criminal activities in the area. He added that one gang member was neutralized during the operation, while three suspects were arrested.
The suspects are currently in custody as investigations continue, and efforts are ongoing to apprehend other gang members. The command reaffirmed its commitment to sustained operations against armed criminal groups and urged residents to provide timely and credible information to security agencies.
Abduction of Retired General in Katsina
In Katsina State, the police command confirmed the abduction of a retired military officer, Major General Rabe Abubakar, and his wife in Matazu Local Government Area. The couple was abducted on Saturday at about 11:00 a.m. while traveling along the Musawa-Matazu road to Katsina for a wedding ceremony. They were reportedly in a red Peugeot 406 saloon driven by their driver when armed men suspected to be bandits intercepted them and took them into a nearby forest.
The retired officer, who served as Director of Defence Information between 2015 and 2017, was abducted alongside his wife, while the driver reportedly escaped despite sustaining a gunshot wound. Security operatives later recovered the vehicle, which is now parked at the Matazu Divisional Headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force. A video of the vehicle circulating online showed multiple bullet holes on the windscreen, window glass, and rear bumper, along with personal belongings of the abducted couple inside.
A security message reportedly circulated by retired Brigadier General Sagir Musa raised an alarm over the incident and called for urgent intervention by security agencies. This incident comes about a year after another retired senior military officer, Brigadier General Maharazu Tsiga, a former Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), was abducted in Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina State and held captive for nearly two months before regaining freedom.
Confirming the latest incident, spokesperson for the Katsina State Police Command, DSP Abubakar Aliyu, said efforts were ongoing to rescue the abducted retired officer and his wife.
