Human Rights: Falana Seeks Sanctions for Attorneys-General Failing to Prosecute Terror Suspects

•NBA says without security human rights lose ground, HURIWA criticises NHRC

•SERAP, NGE demand end to harassment of journalists, activists

Alex Enumah in Abuja

Human rights activist Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday called for the sanctioning of state attorneys-general who have failed to prosecute suspected terrorists, bandits and other violent criminals arrested within their jurisdictions.

Falana predicated the call on the grounds that the Attorney General of the Federation in 2016, gave the Fiat or authority to all the AGs of states to prosecute terrorism, which is a federal offence.

He made the call specifically to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), while speaking at the 2025 International Human Rights Day, organised by the NBA’s Human Rights Institute (HRI).

“Up till today, no AG has ever charged anybody with terrorism in the state. As you are aware, culpable homicide or murder, armed robbery and kidnapping are state offences. But how many state governments are charging people? How many of our members who are AGs are doing so?

“In Benue and Plateau where a lot of reports are oozing out in the country; in fact, the killings there were alleged to be the reason why Donald Trump is threatening our country. You can quote me, in the last three years, not less than 1000 suspected bandits and terrorists had been arrested and paraded by police in those states.

“In spite of the fact that some of us have shouted ourselves hoarse, not up to 10 have been prosecuted successfully. So, the NBA must call to order and sanction Attorneys-General that fail to prosecute terror suspects, bandits and other killers in our country”, he said.

Speaking on the security situation in the country, Falana advised the federal government to embrace and deploy technology rather than recruitment of more soldiers and police officers.

According to him, it is not about the number, but about equipping and motivating serving members of the armed forces and police.

“The man in charge of our space technology has just come out to reveal that whereas the President approved funds of about N20 billion to acquire Satellite Facility in May this year, up till now, the fund has not been released,” he stressed.

Also, the rights activist expressed worry over the increase in the number of out-of-school children, especially in the north, stressing that when the children of the poor are not cared for, they will make life unbearable for our own children.

Painting what he said is “the reality we face in the North”, Falana claimed that out of about 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, 80 per cent are in the North.

“Another troubling issue involves the misuse of funds. Fifty million dollars was supposedly set aside, but no one seems accountable. The NBA must be interested in how this money will be recovered. State governments must also provide funds to secure schools before they are reopened.

“I have suggested that some schools be temporarily relocated to state capitals where adequate security exists. For those that must remain in rural areas, stronger community security structures are needed,” he argued.

Earlier in a welcome address, the NBA 1st Vice President and Chairman of the NBA Human Rights Institute, Mr. Sabastine Anyia, stated that human rights are not luxuries reserved for the privileged, but are indispensable breath of shared humanity, and everyday essential.

He described the NBA Human Rights Institute’s local theme: “Security: A Necessity for the Growth of Our Nation, Nigeria,” as a national heartbeat.

According to Anyia, when citizens are unsafe as they have been for the longest time, a nation struggles to breathe, adding that, without security, dreams are postponed, businesses collapse, children learn to fear and withdraw before they learn to read and communities become shadows of the vibrant possibilities they carry.

“Without security, justice becomes a mere chant far away from reality and without security, human rights, our everyday essentials lose their ground. This is why we gather today to celebrate and to commit ourselves anew to creating a Nigeria where human rights are actual”, he said.

In a related development, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has described Nigeria as a graveyard of human rights.

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, stated this at a dialogue held to commemorate the World’s Human Rights Day, which had as theme: “Human Rights: Our Everyday Essential.”

While noting the constitution makes provisions for the observation and protection of human rights, including the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Onwubiko lamented that the commission has “deviated adversely from the central roles that it ought to be playing in ensuring that government and all those in authority in both the private and public sectors, comply with the demands of human rights in their activities”.

“Today, Nigerians are going through grave cases of mass killings, extra-legal killings by security forces and all kinds of armed non-state actors but the National Human Rights Commission is missing in action.

“The commission is doing just a little work to demonstrate why it is being funded to defend human rights and to defend the defenders of human rights who face all kinds of threats including false disappearances, assassination and arbitrary arrests by security forces,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) have expressed deep concern over what they described as the growing deployment of repressive laws to intimidate journalists, activists, and civil society organisations across Nigeria.

In a joint statement issued in Lagos, both organisations condemned the misuse of the Cybercrime Act and the rising wave of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP), warning that these actions pose a grave threat to civic space and press freedom.

The statement was jointly signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare and the General Secretary, NGE, Onuoha Ukeh.

Both organisations stressed that the recurrence of harassment, arrests, and malicious prosecutions—often engineered through the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act 2024—undermines Nigeria’s constitutional guarantees and international human rights obligations.

They cautioned that the continued weaponisation of Section 24 on “cyberstalking” by state and non-state actors has created an environment of fear for journalists and human rights defenders, eroding public trust, democratic participation, and the rule of law.

The statement added: “The use of these repressive laws and SLAPP erodes democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law in Nigeria.

“The use of repressive laws and SLAPP to crackdown on peaceful dissent is entirely inconsistent with the Nigerian 1999 Constitution [as amended] and the country’s international human rights obligations.

“Security agencies, acting for state and non-state actors, have weaponised the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act 2024, using provisions of Section 24 on “cyberstalking” to intimidate and harass journalists, activists, and civil society organisations (CSOs) who are exercising their human rights to press freedom and freedom of expression.”

The NGE and SERAP noted that the restrictions on civic space, human rights violations and suppression of the press in recent times take various forms, ranging from extrajudicial to unlawful arrest, detentions, malicious prosecutions and wrongful use of both legislation and law enforcement.

They called on the Nigerian authorities to immediately release all journalists, activists, and other Nigerians detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights and withdraw charges against them.

“Nigerian authorities must ensure that defamation is not used as a tool to undermine legitimate rights and freedoms of affected rights holders, civil society organisations and human rights defenders.

“We urge President Tinubu and the federal government to publicly call on state governors, the Nigerian Police Force, and the Department of State Services (DSS) to uphold and ensure full respect for the rights of everyone in the country, including journalists, human rights defenders and activists.

“We call on President Tinubu and the federal government, the country’s 36 governors and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister to genuinely uphold human rights, press freedom, ensure access to information to all Nigerians, obey court judgments, and respect the rule of law”, the groups said.