For Immediate Release

21.09.26

Abuja

Invest in Peace, Protect Lives: CLEEN FOUNDATION Calls for Urgent Action Against Preventable Fatalities in Nigeria

As the world marks the International Day of Peace, CLEEN Foundation calls for a renewed national commitment to the most fundamental purpose of security: the protection of human life. For millions of Nigerians, peace remains an aspiration rather than an everyday reality. Families continue to bury loved ones killed in attacks; communities live under the threat of kidnapping and armed violence; farmers are unable to safely access their fields; children face disrupted education; and displaced families continue to struggle to rebuild their lives. The scale of the crisis is difficult to ignore. The European Union, citing Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) figures, reports that Nigeria recorded nearly 12,000 conflict-related deaths in 2025, while approximately 3.7 million Nigerians are internally displaced. In the North-East alone, 5.9 million people require humanitarian assistance.

These figures are not simply statistics. Behind every number is a family, a community, a livelihood interrupted and a future altered. Recent developments should deepen our national reflection. In August, armed men reportedly abducted hundreds of people in communities in Niger State, with local sources also reporting killings and mass displacement; the precise number of those abducted could not independently be verified. More recently, the reported deaths of 37 detainees in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Niger State have raised profound questions about detention conditions, the proportionality and accountability of enforcement, and the state’s responsibility to protect persons in its custody. The Federal Government has ordered investigations, and senior officials have reportedly been suspended.

For CLEEN Foundation, “everyone, everywhere” is a programmatic commitment. Durable peace cannot be delivered to citizens; it must be built with them. For this reason, the Foundation has consistently advanced inclusive approaches to public safety, placing communities at the centre of dialogue on the security that affects their daily lives. CLEEN Foundation’s Citizens’ Engagement Programme is a clear expression of this commitment. Through its recurring community–law enforcement engagement forums across states, the Foundation creates structured, non-adversarial spaces where citizens, law enforcement agencies, traditional and religious leaders, women, youth, and civil society actors can speak candidly, share local intelligence, and jointly identify solutions to safety concerns. These forums rebuild trust where it has eroded, amplify voices that are too often excluded from security conversations, and strengthen the community-level partnerships on which sustainable peace depends. This work reflects a simple conviction: peace is invested in “every day” through consistent, patient engagement, not only in moments of crisis. Each forum, each conversation, and each commitment made between a citizen and a police officer contributes to a culture of shared responsibility for safety.

A Call to Action

Peace is not built only in capitals or negotiated only in conference halls. It grows in neighbourhoods, markets, places of worship, schools, and police posts, one conversation and one relationship at a time. On this International Day of Peace, we call on every Nigerian, community leader, security officer, civil society actor, development institution, and the government to join us in deepening peace from the smallest corners of our communities until the whole nation is embraced by it. Let us invest in peace, for everyone, everywhere, every day.

Signed:

Peter Maduoma

Executive Director