League of Northern Democrats (LND) has expressed deep concern and alarm over reports alleging that agents of the United States carried out a covert commando operation in Caracas, resulting in the abduction of the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife.
In a press statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Dr. Ladan Salihu, the group claimed that the Venezuelan leader and his wife were forcibly transferred to the United States to face domestic criminal charges, describing the alleged action as a serious breach of international law.
According to the LND, such an act represents a dangerous assault on the foundations of the post-1945 international order, including the United Nations Charter and the principles of sovereign equality, non-intervention and the personal inviolability of sitting heads of state. The group warned that the alleged operation undermines the very norms the United States is expected to uphold.
The LND recalled that the Global South and the Non-Aligned Movement were born out of historic struggles against imperial domination, external interference and coercive regime-change operations. It argued that the abduction of a serving president of a sovereign state, outside any multilateral legal framework, amounts to a return to gunboat diplomacy—an approach long rejected by nations across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The group further warned that the incident comes shortly after what it described as an unlawful military operation by the United States against Nigeria, allegedly carried out under the guise of protecting Nigerian Christians. LND cautioned that the normalization of extraterritorial attacks, unilateral enforcement actions and military incursions by powerful states against weaker ones poses a direct threat to world peace, undermines diplomacy and exposes Global South nations to similar acts of lawlessness.
Emphasizing that no country is above international law, the LND stated that political disagreements or allegations of wrongdoing cannot justify the attack or kidnapping of foreign leaders. It stressed that international disputes must be resolved through dialogue, multilateral institutions and lawful judicial mechanisms, not covert or overt military operations.
In response to the gravity of the situation, the LND called on the United Nations Security Council to urgently place the matter on its agenda and demand full clarification, accountability and strict adherence to the UN Charter. It also urged the United Nations to condemn the alleged act and reaffirm the principles of sovereignty, non-intervention and equality of states, particularly in defense of Global South nations.
The group, further, appealed to the African Union to adopt a principled position condemning what it described as a violation of international law and to resist what it sees as the re-emergence of imperial practices in global affairs. It also called on the Federal Government of Nigeria—described as a recent victim of arbitrary use of force and a historic voice within the Non-Aligned Movement—to publicly condemn the action and engage diplomatically within the UN and AU to defend international legality and global stability.
The LND reaffirmed its commitment to a rules-based international order, peaceful resolution of disputes and collective security of all nations, warning that silence or acquiescence in the face of such allegations would only embolden further violations and accelerate the breakdown of international norms built over decades.
