The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently declare a state of emergency in northern Nigeria, warning that the region’s worsening insecurity is fast becoming a major threat to the nation’s stability and regional peace.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Prof Abubakar Jika Jiddere, the forum accused security agencies of being overstretched, poorly equipped, and in some cases complicit through silence and inaction. This, they said, has left millions of Nigerians vulnerable while gradually eroding trust in government.
The elders highlighted recent attacks, including the August 19 massacre of 27 worshippers inside a mosque in Unguwan Mantau Village, the execution of 35 abductees in Zamfara despite ransom payments, and violent assaults in Kaduna’s Kauru and Kudan LGAs that left several people dead and many injured.
According to NEF, these atrocities are not isolated events but part of an organised pattern of banditry and criminal violence that has displaced families, ruined livelihoods, undermined food security, and inflicted lasting trauma on northern communities.
The group stressed that the government’s failure to protect lives violates the 1999 Constitution and international treaties such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the ICCPR, warning that the scale of killings could amount to crimes against humanity under international law.
They urged Tinubu’s administration to declare a state of emergency, deploy better-trained and equipped security forces, compensate and rehabilitate victims, secure Nigeria’s borders, and seek regional and international support from ECOWAS, AU, and the UN.
The forum cautioned that failure to act decisively and urgently will deepen human suffering, endanger democracy, and destabilise the entire West African sub-region. NEF also pledged to continue monitoring the situation while pushing for protection and relief for northern communities under siege.
