London, 1 October 2024 – Annie Lennox, Emma Thompson, Lord Simon Woolley, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi & Kate Henshaw are among a coalition of activists and public figures sounding the alarm over the ongoing killings of innocent citizens across multiple regions of Nigeria. They are calling on the British public to support a petition urging the UK government to press Nigerian authorities to take stronger action against the violence. The petition seeks to ensure that Nigerian authorities intensify efforts to stop the ongoing attacks, many of which occur with impunity. It also seeks to avoid yet another refugee crisis fuelled by the failure to prioritise human rights in UK-Nigeria foreign policy.

The violence in Nigeria increasingly resembles a quilted patchwork of diverse types of insecurity including religiously motivated genocide, with systematic attacks on Christian communities in North Central Nigeria. Ongoing terrorism and banditry in predominantly Muslim communities from the Northwest to the Northeast regions, along with widespread insecurity in the Southeast and South-South regions, has resulted in nearly 20,000 deaths from a failure in the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ between 2020 and 2023 alone. On top of the killings, there have been over 1200 people abducted in 2024 so far. Women and children are among the victims, with the destruction of homes, schools, and places of worship causing mass displacement, millions of children out of school and a devastating humanitarian crisis.

Experts have pointed to the growing evidence of coordinated assaults, mass killings & abductions, and forced displacement; particularly in rural regions already experiencing intercommunal tensions. These assaults have disproportionately impacted vulnerable populations who do not adhere to the ideologies of the perpetrators, with entire villages being razed to the ground, farmers prevented from engaging in farming and non-state actors imposing taxes (or death) on citizens in the communities.

 "The ongoing security crisis in Nigeria poses a significant risk to regional and global security. The lives, liberties and livelihoods of the people of the most populous country in Africa are haemorrhaging in plain sight. The time to stop it is now," says Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, a lead activist for the Stop Nigeria Genocide campaign.

The UK government recently renewed the UK-Nigeria security and defense partnership (SDP), which was described as “a pillar of our strategic partnership with Nigeria”, during the launch of  the UK Government’s Integrated Security Fund (ISF). The fund sees 100’s of millions of UK taxpayer money allocated towards security programmes across Africa, highlighting the obligation for greater accountability from the Nigerian Government. The SDP covers areas like "Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism" and "Policing & Civil-Military Cooperation," yet this has not reduced violence in Nigeria. The country ranks 8th in Statista’s 2023 Global Terrorism Index, just behind Syria and Afghanistan. The partnership has also failed to prevent the attacks against Christians in North Central Nigeria, with Nigeria ranked 6th on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List for Christian persecution, accounting for 9 out of 10 religiously motivated murders in sub-Saharan Africa (Open Doors, 2024, July).

The International Organisation for Peacebuilding & Social Justice (PSJUK) shared that Victims have spoken of terror and trauma that prevents them from returning to their villages. One Victim who can not be named,  described  their family returning to their community only to horrifically discover it had been taken over by unknown occupiers which included the perpetrators of the killings. Another victim spoke of significantly slow responses to attacks from local police and army units in high risk areas, leaving victims open to long sprees of violence. Sadly, PSJUK note that this is the story of victims across multiple communities.

The humanitarian crisis has already displaced over 3 million Nigerians, most lacking access to basic support and necessary provisions. Fear continues to grip survivors as the IDP camps have not escaped the violence, with the most recently reported IDP attack in 2023 on Good Friday in a camp in Mgban, Benue State, located in the North Central region of Nigeria. The attack, which took place late at night, left at least 43 people dead, many of them women and children. 

While the Nigerian President Tinibu has expressed intent, there has been little concrete action to break the ongoing cycle of violence across the country​ - last month alone saw 84 people killed in an attack by Boko Haram in Yobe state, North East Nigeria.There has also been a reluctance to acknowledge the sophisticated nature of the genocidal killings in North Central Nigeria. These attacks are calculated, coordinated, and well-funded, involving expensive weaponry, extensive vehicles, ideological messaging, and religious targeting. In response, the Coalition is calling for public outcry through the Stop Nigeria Genocide campaign.The silent Genocide calls for a proportional response from the UK government. It must take the necessary measures to ensure proactive and transparent collaboration with the Government of Nigeria to ensure protection, accountability and justice for victims and vulnerable communities in the impacted regions.

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Notes to Editors:

Petition link: https://www.stopnigeriagenocide.com

Available for comment.:

Dr Shola Shogbamimu - Lawyer, Political & Women’s rights activist.

Nels Abbey - Writer, Media Executive & Satirist

Femi Oluwole - Human rights Activist

PSJUK (International Organisation for Peacebuilding & social justice) - non-profit organisation that seeks to promote Peace Building, social justice and sustainable development in Nigeria and other parts of the world. Further insight into nigeria’s insecurity crisis here.

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