Oral Statement at the 59th Session of the Human Rights Council
Item 3: ID with the SR on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons
Date: June 20, 2025
Delivered by: Fabian Adindu (VIVAT International)
Mr. President
VIVAT International and allies strongly condemn the gruesome massacre of occupants at the IDP camp run by the Catholic mission in Yelwata, Benue State, Nigeria, on June 13/14, 2025. This brutal attack, which claimed the lives of at least 200 innocent individuals1 and left survivors with horrific injuries, represents an egregious violation of human rights.2 The camp, once a place of refuge, was reduced to a gory scene of charred bodies and unutterable sorrow;3 a community that has been repeatedly targeted by extremist groups.4
Our thoughts are one with that of Pope Leo’s who is saddened by the fact that this “rural Christian communities of Benue State…have been relentless victims of violence”.5 We clearly affirm that such barbarism has no place in our interconnected world.
VIVAT International and co-signing NGOs hereby call on the Special Rapporteur on IDPs and the United Nations Human Rights Council to:
- Mobilize and demand accountability from the Nigerian authorities on this perennial bloodletting in IDP camps in Nigeria
- Demand that the Nigerian government take urgent and concrete measures to protect vulnerable communities in IDP camps across the country.
- And ensure that perpetrators of these atrocities are held accountable and that such violence never reoccurs.
Thank you, Mr. President
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