As the international community marks the 2026 World Press Freedom Day, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) have urged President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government, state governors, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to urgently ensure press freedom, protect journalists, and bring an end to escalating insecurity and widespread human rights violations across parts of northern Nigeria, including Benue, Borno, Kwara, Plateau, and Sokoto states.
SERAP and NGE made the call on Sunday in a statement issued following a conference and interactive session on “The Role of the Media in Promoting People’s Rights, Accountability, and Access to Justice in the Context of Growing Insecurity in Nigeria,” held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos, on Saturday. The event was jointly organised by both groups to mark World Press Freedom Day.
In the joint statement, SERAP and NGE emphasised that protecting journalists and safeguarding information integrity are central to peace, security, and democratic stability.
“Any credible peace, recovery, or security strategy in Nigeria must integrate support for free, independent, and pluralistic media alongside humanitarian, institutional, and economic responses,” the groups said.
They also 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.”
According to the statement: “Thousands have reportedly 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.”
“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.”
They lamented that the humanitarian consequences remain severe: communities have been destroyed, livelihoods lost, and victims left without effective remedies, while the persistence of impunity continues to erode public trust and weaken democratic governance.
SERAP and NGE stressed that Nigerian authorities at all levels have binding constitutional and international human rights obligations to protect journalists and end insecurity and impunity in the country.
They added that the Tinubu administration, state governors, the FCT minister, and other relevant authorities must exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, and remedy human rights violations, including ensuring justice for victims and accountability for perpetrators and their sponsors.
