A total of 13,241 Nigerians have been killed by the nation’s security agency operatives extra-judicially since 2011, says a policy advocacy and research think-tank, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD).
The CDD also raised the alarm that instead of being protectors of Nigerians by virtue of their assignments, State actors have become the primary cause of deaths in the country.
Presenting the report titled “Democracy Watch Reports,” CDD Director, Idayat Hassan, while giving an overview of the report, expressed regret that unlawful killings have become commonplace in the country since 1999, adding that many of these killings were perpetrated by security forces and they were unpunished.
According to her, “these unlawful killings go largely unpunished, thanks in part to Nigeria’s Force Order 237, which allows officers to use lethal force in ways that contravene international law, and because of government corruption and a prevailing culture of impunity.
She added: “Successive governments in Nigeria have used unlawful killings to quell secessionist upheavals and terrorist activities, a practice that was exacerbated during President Muhammadu’s Buhari’s tenure – such as the unlawful killing of 350 Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) members by the Nigerian army in 2015.
“It is pertinent to state that extrajudicial killings conducted by state actors has become the primary cause of death in the country. In fact, state actors have cumulatively killed 13, 241 people since 2011”.
Hassan noted that over 70 per cent of the prison population is made up of detainees awaiting trial, with over 20 per cent awaiting trial for more than a year.
It observed an emerging trend of security officers receiving orders from elite in Nigeria to remand detainees for longer on spurious grounds.
“Compounding the effects of illegal detention is the horrible detention situation in Nigeria that further exacerbates human rights violations. Overcrowding in Nigerian prisons has increased by more than 1000 percent in the last decade,” she added.
Hassan added that governments have frequently invoked the pretext of ‘preventing terrorist actions’ to justify disrupting peaceful protests and social movements.
She stated that by doing so, the government has severely restricted Nigerians’ rights to assemble and demonstrate, in violation of relevant Constitutional provisions.
“Peaceful protests are regularly met with violent attacks by security personnel or even are prevented from protesting in the first place. The excessive use of force in reaction to largely peaceful protests – most recently visible during the #ENDSars protests – has created a frightening climate that discourages or limits the right to assemble.
“Undaunted, Nigerians protested on Democracy Day in June 2021 but were once again met with the deployment of security forces spraying tear gas and firing live bullets into the ait to disperse what they referred to as ‘anti-government’ protests,” she noted.
She added that the media has also faced censorship, harassment, arbitrary arrests, and even assassination attempts against journalists.
CDD was established to mobilise global opinion and resources for democratic development and provide an independent space to reflect critically on the challenges posed to the democratisation and development processes in West Africa, and also to provide alternatives and best practices to the sustenance of democracy and development in the region.
