Nigeria, under the
President Muhammadu Buhari administration, has been indicted by the United
States for serial acts of impunity, human rights abuses and extra judicial
killings.
In its 2019 Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices, the US Department of
State identified human rights issues by state and non-state
actors as unlawful and arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings,
forced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detention.
The report expressed grave concern over unlawful infringement on citizens’
privacy rights; criminal libel; brazen arrest of journalists as well as infringement on the
rights of religious minorities, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons.
It also frowned at ‘widespread and pervasive corruption’ and religious
minorities; It also frowned at the harsh prison conditions as well as many
incidents of extrajudicial killings among other human rights abuses.
Specifically, the report expressed concern that over the activities of the
militant terrorist groups Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa
(ISIS-WA) which has resulted in the
death of many people as well as the internal displacement of more than two million
persons, and external displacement of an estimated 243,875 Nigerian refugees to
neighbouring countries.
The report hinted that while “government took some steps to investigate alleged
abuses (but) there were few public reports of prosecutions of officials who
committed violations, whether in the security forces or elsewhere in the
government.”
It noted that Impunity remained widespread at all levels of government, just as
no charges were filed in some of the significant allegations of human rights
violations by security forces and cases of police or military extortion or other
abuse of power.
Segun Fatuase
seguntuase@gmail.com
08023092925
(with Agency reports)