COMMUNIQUE On the National Summit on Mass Atrocities in Abuja

By Aviashima Toom, Abuja

COMMUNIQUE On the National Summit on Mass Atrocities, Issued by The Community of Practice Against Mass Atrocities February 23rd, 2022

Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Preamble:

On the 22nd and 23rd February 2022, Global Rights-led Community of Practice Against Mass 

Atrocities convened a 2-day National Summit on Mass Atrocities themed: “Remembering to 

Prevent: Enhancing Collective Memory for Mass Atrocities Prevention”. 

The Summit was a hybrid event featuring a physical gathering in Nigeria’s Federal Capital, Abuja, and online 

participation across the country and globally. 

The Summit had in attendance representatives of civil society organizations from across the 

country, Government Ministries and Agencies including the National Human Rights Commission, the National Orientation Agency, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of 

Défense, and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, as well as Development Partners including Heinrich Boll Foundation, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) among others.

The core objective of the convening was to inspire a shared understanding of the narratives

and challenges associated with the prevention of, and accountability for mass atrocities in Nigeria, with a view to enhance knowledge and understanding of the various forms and manifestations of mass atrocities, contextualized within the various theatres of violence and 

instances of disrespect for the rule of law across Nigeria, and equip civic actors in their quest 

to prevent atrocities, and demand accountability. It was also intended to explore the extent to which the deficit of memory, and the lack of institutional capacity to employ memory perpetuate these atrocities. 

The Summit sought to explore the premise that: mass atrocities, invariably, are political crimes 

and in dealing with them, three deficits need to be confronted: the deficit of memory; the deficit of evidence, and; the deficit of will and/or capacity. Given the frequent debate in Nigeria’s context on whether it is the deficit of memory, or the lack of institutional capacity 

to latch memory that sustains chronic mass atrocities in Nigeria, the Community of Practice, 

therefore, found it essential to study the phenomenon of memory in the prevention of and 

accountability for mass atrocities. 

The Summit interrogated why and how the formation of a public memory culture can prevent

the occurrence of future atrocities. It also examined best practices that exemplify the nature 

of collective memory, and demonstrated the prospect of memory in uniting people, rather than ostracizing them. 

Observations:

Participants: 

(i)

Traced the historical antecedent of mass atrocities and the default inducing public amnesia of these crimes, from the nation’s colonial-era till present-day Nigeria. 

(ii)

Cited a record of over 78 major mass atrocities since Nigeria’s independence, and worse still, that more than 70 of these occurred within Nigeria’s nascent 

democratic dispensation; and that they had grown into weekly occurrences across the country. 

(iii)

Enumerated the commonest mass atrocities in Nigeria to include: mob killings, 

herdsmen attacks, banditry, terrorist, secessionist related massacres, targeted killing of security personnel, communal attacks, pillages, extra-judicial killings, kidnappings, sextortion, ritual killings, politically motivated assassinations, security forces’ brutality, and forced disappearances;

(iv)

Identified both state and non-state actors as perpetrators of these forms of violence; however, noting that the acquiescence of the state, and impunity were their major drivers;

(v)

Applauded the resilience of Nigeria’s civic movements and actors in the face of mounting atrocities targeted against citizens and communities;

(vi)

Acknowledged the role that members of the Community of Practice Against Mass Atrocities and other civic actors have played and continue to play in the 

documentation, prevention and demand for accountability for mass atrocities in Nigeria, as well as their creation of various platforms for experience sharing and

collective action;

(vii)

Observed that memory deficit and the lack of institutional capacity to latch memory continues to sustain chronic mass atrocities in Nigeria resulting in the 

mass killings and the wanton destruction of communities;

(viii)

Expressed concern that mass atrocities had become endemic and were assuming a cultural dimension in Nigerian societies;

(ix)

Noted the acquiescence of the Nigerian government in the perpetration of various 

atrocities in and across the country;

(x)

Noted the Nigerian government’s lack of political will to hold perpetrators of mass 

atrocities accountable for their crimes;

(xi)

Expressed worry that the types of mass atrocities across Nigeria are rapidly metastasizing in size, geographic boundaries, actors and nature;

(xii)

Noted that the failure to address the dynamics and root causes of these atrocities

are tearing the fabric of Nigeria’s nationhood and catalysing its economic 

depression;

(xiii)

Noted the need to strengthen grassroots communities’ capacity to implement

early warning systems for detecting imminent attacks and taking appropriate 

safeguard measures against mass atrocities;

(xiv)

Observed that governance gaps are limiting the extent to which the citizens can 

interact with public officials to demand accountability for mass atrocities;

(xv)

Reiterated that Chapter 2, Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (As 

Amended) places a duty on the Nigerian state to ensure the security and welfare 

of the Nigerian people as its primary objective. Hence the onus to prevent mass atrocities by ensuring justice and adequate remedies for victims of mass atrocities

falls within its purview.

Recommendations:

1. The Nigerian state must begin to fulfil its constitutional duty of ensuring the security

and welfare of its citizens and defend their rights to individual and communal life and 

bring perpetrators of atrocities to book in line with extant laws.

2. There is an urgent need to promote the Nigerian identity in order to foster the culture of “an injury to one is an injury to all” and rally a critical mass of citizens to stand against 

mass atrocities perpetrated anywhere in the country, regardless of the geographical 

or religious identities of the victims.

3. A citizens-led movement for monitoring and documenting mass atrocities in a quest 

for accountability is imperative and in need of urgent mobilization by the Community of Practice.

4. The government of Nigeria must urgently live up to its international obligations of 

ensuring accountability for crimes committed within its territory. It must not only investigate and punish ongoing atrocities but must begin to account for the past 

atrocities that have jaded the country’s history. 

5. The Community of Practice must urgently begin to investigate and study the worrisome rise in ritual killings which have grown in practice and spread.

6. The Nigerian government should develop a national strategy on psycho-social support for victims of mass atrocities, recognizing the critical role psycho-social support plays in healing memories. 

7. It is imperative for the members of the Community of Practice and other civic actors to increase citizens’ capacity on early warning and early responses measures against mass atrocities.

8. Art is a critical tool in the fight against the culture of impunity, and the promotion of memory in Nigeria. It is therefore essential to enlist artists of various media, including 

artists, writers, actors, and musicians to foster a counter-culture. 

9. Representatives at the National and state Assemblies should be tasked with leading 

quests to ensure the memorialization of critical events and actors, especially victims of 

mass atrocities and heroes.

Adopted by unanimous vote this 23rd day of February, 2022