Nigeria continues to feature under the critical lens of the United States, which has again condemned the country’s human rights record in the last one year.
According to the US annual Human Rights reports released by the office of the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) did not perform well in 2009. The US said “the EFCC reportedly singled out political opponents in its arrests and detentions of state, local, and federal government officials on corruption charges during the year.”
According to the report, “the EFCC’s anti-corruption efforts were largely ineffectual. Despite the arrest of several high-ranking officials by the EFCC, there were allegations that agency investigations targeted individuals who were out of favor with the government of the day, while those that were in favor continued their activities with impunity.”
On the argument of the EFCC that approximately 10 former state governors were facing corruption charges, the Americans responded in the report saying, “none of the cases had moved forward by year’s end.”
The report cited one notable instance: “In December the judge dismissed the 170 counts of illegal activity against former Delta State Governor James Ibori, although the judge ordered a retrial. Ibori remained free on bail at year’s end.”
According to the US government, the removal of Nuhu Ribadu as EFCC chairman contributed to the tainted perception of Federal Government’s seriousness to fight corruption.
“The EFCC’s inability to bring a number of corruption investigations to closure, the 2008 replacement of its internationally respected chairman; and the 2008 transfer of many of its senior personnel raised questions about the government’s commitment to fighting corruption. During the year the EFCC was accused of using its authority to harass citizens who objected to government policies,” according to the report.
The US also cited the following corruption cases:
On December 9, the EFCC arrested former Sokoto State Governor Attahiru Bafarawa, who was attending an opposition meeting to plan a new “mega” opposition party. Bafarawa was charged with embezzlement of public funds in 2007, which he denied. Observers alleged that the arrest was an attempt to harass opponents of the ruling party.
The corruption trial of former Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, had not been heard by year’s end, despite a December 2008 court ruling against his request for a delay. Fayose subsequently requested an exit visa to travel outside the country for alleged “urgent medical attention.” The visa had not been granted by year’s end.
Trials also remained pending in the 2008 corruption cases against: former aviation ministers Femi Fani-Kayode and Babalola Borishade for alleged embezzlement of N19.5 billion (approximately $130 million); former Adamawa State Governor, Boni Haruna, for misappropriating N93 million (approximately $618,000); former chairman of the NPA Board of Directors and five other NPA members for illegally awarding contracts worth N84 billion (approximately $558 million); and former Edo State Governor, Lucky Igbinedion, against whom the EFCC was appealing a December 2008 verdict due to the light sentence he received for the alleged embezzlement of more than N3.6 billion (approximately $24 million).
Besides, the US noted that “there were no developments in any of the 2007 pending corruption cases against former government officials.
“Even while presenting the report to journalists during the week in Washington DC, Nigeria was again singled out for international concern by the US government because of the situation in Jos, where religious violence has led to death of several innocent people, especially Christians last week.
According to the report, which was released on Thursday, human rights problems in Nigeria in the last one year “included the abridgement of citizens’ right to change their government; politically motivated and extrajudicial killings by security forces, including summary executions; vigilante killings; abductions by militant groups; torture, rape, and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners, detainees, and criminal suspects.”
Such treatment included “harsh and life-threatening prison and detention center conditions; arbitrary arrest and prolonged pretrial detention; denial of fair public trial; executive influence on the judiciary and judicial corruption.”
The US government in the mandatory report to the US Congress added that in Nigeria “infringement of privacy rights; restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, and movement,” were still prevalent, while “official corruption and impunity,” were still in place.
Furthermore the report noted that “domestic violence and discrimination against women; the killing of children suspected of witchcraft; female genital mutilation (FGM); child abuse and child sexual exploitation,” were among the several human rights problems in Nigeria just as were “societal violence; ethnic, regional, and religious discrimination; trafficking in persons for the purpose of prostitution and forced labour.”
The report also listed, among human rights problems in Nigeria, the “discrimination against persons with disabilities; discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and child labour.”
While conceding that “civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces,” the US report blasted the security agencies in Nigeria saying ” there were numerous instances in which elements of the security forces acted outside the law.”
On Niger Delta, the report noted that “militant and criminal groups in the Niger Delta were responsible for numerous killings, kidnappings, and injuries, as well as the displacement of thousands of persons.”
Observing however that ” lead militant groups accepted the president’s offer of an amnesty by the October 4 deadline, after which reports of incidents attributed to these militant groups decreased,” the US insisted that “violence remained pervasive” in that part of the country.
The Boko Haram incident also featured prominently in the report, which included virtually every nation on the globe. According to the US, “from July 26 to 29, violent clashes erupted in four northern states after supporters of Boko Haram (“western education is sin”), an Islamic extremist group, launched a four-state assault on police stations and other government facilities. In quelling the uprising, security forces committed serious human rights abuses, including executions, extrajudicial killings, and widespread and indiscriminate arrests.”
Under a sub section on “Respect for the Integrity of the Person, including Freedom From Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life,” the US accused the Nigerian government or its agents as being “responsible for numerous extrajudicial killings, including politically motivated killings of leaders of Boko Haram, an extremist Islamic group.”
Also the report added that “during the year, the Joint Task Force (JTF), a unit formed in 2003 to restore stability in the Niger Delta and composed of elements of the military, police, and security services, conducted raids on militant groups and criminal suspects in the Niger Delta, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries. Credible reports also indicated that military personnel and paramilitary mobile police carried out summary executions, assaults, and other abuses across the Niger Delta.”
This year’s report clearly lambasted the Nigerian police. For instance, it said: “On December 9, there was extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings by the Police in Nigeria, which documented 39 cases of security force killings and enforced disappearances and was based on interviews and research conducted between July 2007 and July 2009.
According to the report, national police were responsible for hundreds of extrajudicial executions, other unlawful killings, and enforced disappearances each year.”
In addition, the annual report stated that “victims were not picked at random and, in a country where “bribes guarantee safety,” those who could not afford to pay were at risk of being shot or tortured to death. The majority of cases were neither investigated nor perpetrators punished.
Commenting on the level of redress investigations, the US report stated that “when investigations did occur, they did not comply with international standards, and officers suspected of extrajudicial executions were generally sent on training or transferred to other states instead of being prosecuted.”
