Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has appeal to Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urging him to use his leadership position to “urgently call for a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to address persistent killings apparently by herdsmen in Benue State of Nigeria and other parts of the country.

The organization also on Sunday urged Prince Al Hussein to “speak out strongly and condemn the killings apparently by herdsmen in the country, and make an official visit to Nigeria with special rapporteurs with relevant mandates to discuss the killings and concrete actions to end the killings and ultimately bring about significant improvements in the lives of farmers and their families as well as other citizens affected by violence across the country.”

In an urgent appeal dated 6 January 2018 and signed by SERAP executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organization said, “The UN Human Rights Council’s ability to successfully expose and hold perpetrators of human rights violations to account may be under threat if your office continues to ignore or pay little attention to the crimes and abuses apparently by herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators in Nigeria.”

The organization said, “While we acknowledge that the council has made significant contributions to human rights elsewhere, we are concerned that the violence and killings in Nigeria rarely attract the attention of the UN and particularly, your office.

“It is time for your office to speak out strongly against the continuing killings by herdsmen in Nigeria for the sake of thousands of victims and their families who continue to lack access to an effective remedy, including truth, justice and full and effective reparation.”

Suspected herdsmen yesterday killed at least 11 persons in a fresh attack on Tombu village in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State. This followed the alleged killing earlier in the week of at least 33 people apparently by herdsmen in the State.