Nigeria and the cost of ignoring human rights

December 10, 2025 was marked as International Human Rights Day across the world, to emphasise the values that promote human dignity. The theme for this year’s Day was “Human Rights, Our Everyday Essentials,” pointing to the relevance of human rights to every aspect of human life, from the freedom to choose what to eat to the freedom to be alive. The focus was etched out of the 30 Articles captured in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed and subscribed to by all members of the United Nations on December 10, 1948. These rights are fundamental and must be protected by the government of every nation.

Though there are 30 Articles, in global advocacy for human rights, five are more referenced and emphasised by civil society organisations. First is Article 1, which says, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” The Article attempts to discourage and possibly penalise the practice of slavery, caste systems and servitude, or the categorisation of persons as ‘First Class’ or ‘Second Class’ citizens. Every human being deserves to be respected because of their inherent dignity, bestowed at birth.

The second most important human right is contained in Article 3, which says, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” It forbids every form of extrajudicial killing, torture or murder by state and non-state actors. No human life must be taken under any circumstances except by natural death or capital punishment, affirmed by a court of law and sanctioned by the political authority.

Related to Article 3 is Article 5, which forbids torture and says, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Article 9 says, “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.” Both Articles tend to be violated by security operatives in Nigeria, especially the Nigeria Police Force, whose tendency for impunity has led to loud outcries in recent years. The fifth of them, Article 19, refers to the freedom of human beings to express their opinions, and the freedom of the press to gather opinions and disseminate them to the public. It says, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

Nigeria is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a constitutional democracy, but the violation of some of the Articles identified above is not hidden from the population. The police have continued to carry out extrajudicial killings in spite of loud protests in 2020 under the hashtag #EndSARS and constant complaints by civil society and human rights organisations. Torture and cruel treatment of detainees in police custody have been highlighted by organisations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, with a recent shocking report of systematic abuse and inhuman torture of detainees at the “Tiger Base” police station in Imo State. There are arbitrary arrests of protesters and attacks on the press, under the guise of enforcing the Cybercrime Prevention Act. The police have used the Act to criminalise what is regarded as “offensive digital communication,” an outright misapplication of the law.

Non-state actors like Boko Haram, Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), bandits, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), cult groups and other organised criminals that are a law unto themselves are violators of human rights in its most horrific forms. They abduct people, subject them to inhuman treatment, deny them their rights to life, movement and opinion, and extort them of their money and valuables. The violations of the Articles of the Human Rights Charter are noted not just by international monitors but also by the country’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Nigerians, as part of humanity, are entitled to all the rights enunciated in the UDHR. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, echoes all the provisions of the United Nations document without ambiguity. The federal government must defend the people from all forms of human rights abuses, whether by state or non-state actors. The government must call all security agencies, especially the Nigeria Police Force, to order. Members of the Force who engage in extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and other violations that threaten the right to life and dignity of the people must not go unpunished. There must be no cover-ups.

Most importantly, we call on the Inspector-General of Police and his lieutenants to eschew the error of being used by rich and politically exposed Nigerians who, in their attempts to evade public scrutiny, instigate the arrest and detention of journalists under the pretext of enforcing the Cybercrime Prevention Act. Journalism, under any circumstances, cannot be categorised as a crime, as Section 22 of the Constitution empowers the press to hold the authorities accountable to the people. The police must stop the lawlessness in the arrest and prosecution of journalists who are simply doing their jobs. With the kind of policing system in Nigeria today, human rights are gravely trampled upon with little or no consequences.

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