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Claim
Social media users claimed that the United Nations has recognised Amotekun and declared July 7 as its annual celebration.
Amotekun, officially called the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), was launched in 2019 as a response to the growing insecurity in Southwest Nigeria. That year, the six Southwest governors convened a regional security summit under the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, where they agreed to create a regional security outfit to address security gaps in the region.
Members of this security network have grown in numbers over the years, and recently, the corps mobilised over 2,000 personnel, with ongoing recruitments across several Southwest states to strengthen its operational capacity.
Recently, a Facebook user posted that the United Nations have recognised the Ondo arm of Amotekun, and that July 7 has been set aside to celebrate the Security Network annually.
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The claim has garnered 101 likes and 15 comments as of July 29, 2025, with users sending congratulatory messages.
One user, Olusegun Olubusayo, said: “Congratulations, they are really trying”.
The claim also appeared on X and has been published on several news platforms, here, here, here and here.
This claim is important for ROUNDCHECK to investigate because it tends to mislead the public by falsely attributing UN recognition and authority to a local security outfit without official endorsement.
ROUNDCHECK Findings
ROUNDCHECK discovered that this claim emanated from several news publications. These news publications (here, here, here, and here) quoted one Dr. Markwili Mgbara, Director of Information and Communications for the International Association of World Peace Advocates (IAWPA).
The report said Dr. Mgbara, on behalf of Per Stafsen, World Peace President, Denmark, presented the recognition at the Amotekun Corps headquarters in Alagbaka, Akure, Ondo state, and disclosed that the recognition falls under the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) consultative status. He described Amotekun as the first state-owned security outfit in Nigeria to be affiliated with the United Nations.
ROUNDCHECK reached out to a reporter who wrote one of the news reports and obtained a 2:59-minute video clip of the event. A part of the video claimed that Amotekun has been assigned a date, July 7, which has been marked by the UN General Assembly to globally celebrate “Amotekun Day.”
“ It is on record that Amotekun has been kept aside on a date marked globally in the record of the United Nations which has not been done anywhere in Nigeria, the first time recorded, that on the 7th of jJuly every year has been declared by the General Assembly of the United Nations as Amotekun Day to to be celebrated all over the world,” a part of the video says.
The video shows Ondo State Amotekun Commander Adetunji Adeleye receiving a plaque certificate from Dr. Markwili Mgbara. While presenting the certificate, Dr. Markwili said it is embroidered in the United Nations office, and it was presented from the council of the United Nations ECOSOC conservative status, and the International Association of World Peace Advocates, recognising that from the date of the certificate delivery, Amotekun is already a trained corps of the United Nations security.
ROUNDCHECK spoke to the Ondo State Amotekun Commander, who confirmed that an event was held and documents were given to him recognising Amotekun.
“Certificates were given to Amotekun as a recognised security organisation by the United Nations through the World Peace, and the ceremony took place. I can tell you they gave us all the certifications, duly signed, and they showed us evidence that the processing of all other things are in place. You should know that it follows a procedure; it is not today that it was declared that they will put it on the world calendar, and we are talking of celebrating it by the next one, which is next year,” he said.
ROUNDCHECK visited the website of IAWPA and found that it is a civil society organisation operating as a non-profit entity.
While checking through, we noticed that the said Director of Information and Communications, Dr. Markwili Mgbara, whom all news platforms relied on, is not listed in the Executive Council Member list, nor is he on the full Members list, but Per Stafsen was found.
ROUNDCHECK also checked various social media platforms and did a Google search about the name, but there were no results.
To check if this CSO is truly registered in Nigeria as claimed on its website, ROUNDCHECK visited the Corporate Affairs Commission website and discovered that it was registered with the commission on August 13, 2021, but now has an inactive status. Also, it was observed that a similar name is under registration.
To verify if the organisation is related to the United Nations Economic and Social Council as claimed, ROUNDCHECK visited the ECOSOC website. A quick search revealed that IAWPA has a special consultative status in the ECOSOC.
A conservative status allows non-governmental organisations to take a role in formal UN deliberations. According to ECOSOC, to be eligible for consultative status, an NGO must have been in existence (officially recognised by a government) for at least two years, must have an established headquarters, a democratically-adopted constitution, authority to speak for its members, a representative structure, appropriate mechanisms of accountability and democratic and transparent decision-making processes.
ROUNDCHECK discovered that IAWPA listed a Nigerian address as its headquarters in its consultative status profile. This Address is different from the address seen on the organisation’s website.
However, despite having a conservative status at ECOSOC, ROUNDCHECK findings revealed that IAWPA, which is an NGO, cannot speak or act on behalf of the United Nations, as they are independent bodies and only observers, not UN representatives.
The ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31 discloses that NGO’s with consultative status, just like IAWPA, can:
1) Attend UN Meetings, 2) Submit Written Statements, 3) Make Oral Presentations, 4) Consult with the UN Secretariat, 5) Assist with UN Work, and 6) Participate in UN Conferences and Events.
The endorsement of Amotekun on behalf of the UN and also declaring a special date for the security agency to be celebrated annually cannot be done by IAWPA. IAWPA cannot declare international observance days, nor have the authority to define such UN recognitions.
Such powers reside exclusively with UN member states through resolutions, such as the UN General Assembly.
ROUNDCHECK reviewed the ECOSOC website and found no information related to Amotekun recognition. Also, the UN website and social media pages (X and Facebook) have no information regarding the claim.
Additionally, a review of the UN’s calendar of official observance days reveals no July 7 “World Amotekun Day”, as claimed by Dr. Markwili of IAWPA in several news reports.
ROUNDCHECK reached out repeatedly to the United Nations ECOSOC for comments, but there has been no response at the time of this report.
Verdict
Misleading! Findings revealed that the UN has not recognised Amotekun as of the time of this report. The organisation that made the statement is not a UN agency and cannot act on behalf of the body.
There has been no official statement from the United Nations or any of its agencies endorsing Amotekun and declaring an international observance day for the local security outfit to be celebrated.
