The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) have called on President Bola Tinubu, state governors, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to urgently protect journalists and address escalating insecurity in northern Nigeria.
The organisation made the call as the world marks World Press Freedom Day 2026, following a conference on the role of the media in promoting accountability and access to justice amid growing insecurity in Nigeria. The event was jointly organised by SERAP and NGE to highlight challenges facing journalists and human rights violations across the country.
The groups emphasised that protecting journalists and safeguarding information integrity are central to achieving peace, security, and democratic stability in Nigeria.
They stressed that any credible peace or security strategy must integrate support for free, independent, and pluralistic media alongside humanitarian, institutional, and economic responses.
SERAP and NGE expressed serious concerns about the scale and persistence of killings, abductions, sexual violence, forced displacement, and destruction of property across several parts of northern Nigeria, including Benue, Borno, Kwara, Plateau, and Sokoto states.
The organisations noted that thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced, with rural communities repeatedly targeted and women and children bearing the brunt of the violence and insecurity.
“These patterns reflect systemic failures to prevent foreseeable harm, protect communities, investigate violations, prosecute perpetrators and their sponsors, and ensure access to justice and effective remedies for victims,” the groups said.
They described the violations as serious breaches of Nigeria’s obligations under the 1999 Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.
The organisations highlighted severe humanitarian consequences, including destroyed communities, lost livelihoods, and victims left without effective remedies.
SERAP and NGE warned that the persistence of impunity continues to erode public trust and weaken democratic governance across the country.
The groups reminded Nigerian authorities at all levels of their binding constitutional and international human rights obligations to protect journalists and end insecurity and impunity.
“Such grave violations constitute serious breaches of Nigeria’s obligations under the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended), the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.
“The humanitarian consequences remain severe: communities destroyed, livelihoods lost, and victims left without effective remedies. The persistence of impunity continues to erode public trust and weaken democratic governance,” they stated.
They called on the Tinubu administration, state governors, the FCT minister, and other relevant authorities to exercise due diligence in preventing, investigating, and remedying human rights violations.
The organisations demanded justice for victims and accountability for perpetrators and their sponsors as essential steps toward addressing the security crisis.
