Global Rights Nigeria has revealed that 24,816 people have been killed and 15,597 kidnapped in mass atrocities across Nigeria over the past five years.
The Executive Director of Global Rights, Abiodun Baiyewu, discloded this at the opening of the two-day 2024 National Summit on Mass Atrocities in Abuja.
He highlighted this urgent issue during her welcome address at the summit themed ‘A Standing Responsibility to Protect’.
Baiyewu emphasized the critical need for swift action to prevent Nigeria from descending further into insecurity.
She noted that, over the past week, Nigerians have taken to the streets to protest against bad governance, the high cost of living, corruption, and the government’s failure to ensure citizens’ welfare and security.
She stated, “The sense of urgency that precipitated the first summit on mass atrocities is the sense with which we engage the 5th. The sense that we need to act fast to pull our country back from the dangerous precipice we have found ourselves. As is obvious to all, we are at a precarious moment in our nation’s trajectory.
“For the past seven days, enraged Nigerians have taken to the streets to demand an end to bad governance. Overcome by impossible costs of living and the continued metastasis of the nation’s multiple forms of insecurity, they have felt the need to demand for the government to fulfil their end of the social contract that is implicit between citizens and their government. For the government to step to the plate and fulfil its constitutional mandate of ensuring the welfare and the security of all citizens.”
Baiyewu pointed out the severity of the situation with data showing that in the last five years alone, over 24,816 people have been killed and 15,597 kidnapped due to mass atrocities.
These figures represent lives and communities devastated by violence.
She added, “The abducted and the dead are not the only casualties of endemic insecurity, there are over 3.4 million internally displaced people within our border and about 100,000 refugees in our neighbouring countries. In 2023 alone, at least 457,000 people were displaced across Nigeria, with insecurity accounting for 291,000 of these displacements—nearly double the 148,000 recorded in 2022. To understand how we got here and how we can find our way back to becoming prosperous where peace and justice reigns, we must examine the underpinning governance failures that have accelerated our decline. These include the weaponization of sexual violence, a lack of access to education, food insecurity, energy poverty, mineral-linked conflicts, and the pervasive culture of impunity that allows these atrocities to persist.”
The insecurity has prevented farmers from tending their fields, exacerbating food insecurity, and parents from sending their children to school due to fears of abductions, threatening to increase the already high number of out-of-school children.
Nigerians have voiced their outrage against the government through protests, expressing anger over mismanaged resources, public funds, and policies that have worsened their suffering amidst inflation and global economic challenges.
In a keynote address, Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Dr. Tony Ojukwu, outlined recommendations for addressing Nigeria’s protracted insecurity.
These include developing comprehensive development plans that integrate human security concerns and aligning national goals with human security objectives.
He stated, “Integrating human rights into development policies and budgeting: Nigeria needs to develop an over-arching development policy that recognizes the shortfalls in human rights achievement in Nigeria, especially in the realm of economic, social and cultural rights. This radical approach will be a fulcrum for the implementation of the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in Chapter 2 of the 1999 Constitution.”
Ojukwu also highlighted NHRC’s commitments, including creating forums for stakeholder engagements, providing advisory interventions in policy and legal frameworks, and facilitating information sharing and coordination.
Despite some progress in addressing human security issues, significant challenges like ongoing conflicts, economic disparities, weak governance, and environmental vulnerabilities remain.
