Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/Nigeria.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Nigeria. Some of these links may lead to websites that
present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No attempt
has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing
water. On the other hand, you might
choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who
perpetrate such cruelty. There is a
lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in
adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Nigeria U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/nigeria/
[accessed 29 July
2021] TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT Local
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and international human rights groups
accused the security services of illegal detention, inhuman treatment, and
torture of criminal suspects, militants, detainees, and prisoners. On
February 10, the BBC published a report documenting police and military use
of a torture practice known as tabay when detaining
criminal suspects, including children. Tabay
involves binding a suspect’s arms at the elbows to cut off circulation; at
times the suspect’s feet are also bound and the victim is suspended above the
ground. In response to the BBC video, military and Ministry of Interior
officials told the BBC they would investigate use of the practice. In June, Amnesty International
issued a report documenting 82 cases of torture by the SARS from 2017 to May. Police used a
technique commonly referred to as “parading” of arrestees, which involved
walking arrestees through public spaces and subjecting them to public ridicule
and abuse. Bystanders sometimes taunted and hurled food and other objects at
arrestees. The sharia courts
in 12 states and the FCT may prescribe punishments such as caning,
amputation, flogging, and death by stoning. The sharia criminal procedure
code allows defendants 30 days to appeal sentences involving mutilation or
death to a higher sharia court. Statutory law mandates state governors treat
all court decisions equally, including amputation or death sentences,
regardless of whether issued by a sharia or a nonsharia
court. Sharia courts issued several death sentences during the year. In
August a sharia court in Kano State convicted a man of raping a minor and
sentenced the man to death by stoning. PRISON AND DETENTION
CENTER CONDITIONS Many of the 240 prisons
were 70 to 80 years old and lacked basic facilities. Lack of potable water,
inadequate sewage facilities, and overcrowding sometimes resulted in
dangerous and unsanitary conditions. For example, in December 2019, according
to press reports, five inmates awaiting trial at Ikoyi
Prison were accidentally electrocuted in their cell, which held approximately
140 inmates despite a maximum capacity of 35. Disease remained
pervasive in cramped, poorly ventilated prison facilities, which had chronic
shortages of medical supplies. Inadequate medical treatment caused some
prisoners to die from treatable illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and
tuberculosis. ARREST PROCEDURES
AND TREATMENT OF DETAINEES Families were
afraid to approach military barracks used as detention facilities. In some
cases police detained suspects without informing them of the charges against
them or allowing access to counsel and family members; such detentions often
included solicitation of bribes. Provision of bail often remained arbitrary
or subject to extrajudicial influence. Judges sometimes set stringent bail
conditions. In many areas with no functioning bail system, suspects remained
incarcerated indefinitely in investigative detention. At times authorities
kept detainees incommunicado for long periods. Numerous detainees stated
police demanded bribes to take them to court hearings or to release them. If
family members wanted to attend a trial, police sometimes demanded additional
payment. NHRC condemns Kogi Commissioner’s alleged involvement in torture, rape Eric Ikhilae, Abuja, The Nation, 4 April 2020 thenationonlineng.net/nhrc-condemns-kogi-commissioners-alleged-involvement-in-torture-rape/ [accessed 6 April
2020] Part of the
statement reads: ” A video going viral on the social
media indicates that the said Elizabeth was taken from Okene
to Lokoja on the 29th of March by agents of the Kogi State Commissioner for Water Resources where she
beaten stripped naked in the presence of her little child and a video of her
made by her assailants in the process. “Elizabeth further
alleged that after beating her the Commissioner took advantage of her thereby
raping before finally releasing her the following day back to Okene where she stays and charged not to mention the
incident. Ogun police torture
20-year-old to death over theft allegation Samson Folarin,
Punch, 26 December 2018 punchng.com/ogun-police-torture-20-year-old-to-death-over-theft-allegation/ [accessed 27
Dec 2018] Jubril’s father, Ibrahim,
said when he visited his son a day after he was re-arrested, he could not recognise the son any longer. Mohammed said, “I
went to the station on Friday and after waiting till evening, they brought
him to me. I saw a lot of injuries on my son. They had tortured him
seriously. He said they told him to confess or else they would kill him. He
could barely walk. The owner of the company said the goods stolen were valued
N7m to N8m. “When I returned to
visit him on Monday, their commander called me into his office and asked me
if my son had been sick before, and I said no. He said my son was dead. Police tortured me
to accept rape allegation – Suspect Usman Bello, Daily
Trust, Benin, 9 Nov 2018 www.dailytrust.com.ng/police-tortured-me-to-accept-rape-allegation-suspect-2.htm [accessed 11
November 2018] www.dailytrust.com.ng/police-tortured-me-to-accept-rape-allegation-suspect.html [accessed 10 January
2019] A 51-year-old
herbalist, Francis Aju, yesterday told journalists
that he had to accept rape allegation levelled against him due to severe
torture by police operatives. He further
explained: “I told them that I didn’t rape her. I bathe her the first day in
the presence of her father but the police started beating me saying I should
own up to the allegation. “My pair of trousers
got torn at the station after too much beating by the police. They were
beating me saying I should accept that I raped the girl. “The beating was
too much and when I can’t bear it, I said I did it so that they will leave
me. They use stick and back of cutlass on me. I can’t even hear well because
of the beating,” he claimed. Freedom House
Country Report 2018 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/nigeria/freedom-world/2018 [accessed 18 May
2020] F3. IS THERE
PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR
AND INSURGENCIES? The military has
been repeatedly criticized by local and international human rights groups for
extrajudicial killings, torture, and other abuses, including during
counterinsurgency efforts in the northeast and operations against separatist
movements in the southeast. Family
laments torture of pupil by soldiers, demands justice Deji Lambo, Punch, 12
October punchng.com/family-laments-torture-of-pupil-by-soldiers-demands-justice/ [accessed 13 October
2018] He said, “The
soldiers were apprehending pupils who came late to school and those who did
not put on ties and caps. I came early, but since I did not wear a tie and a
cap, the soldiers stopped me. I ran away because I was afraid of what they
could do to me. One of them caught up with me and started hitting me. “I was asked to
remove my shirt and roll on the floor from the gate. While I was rolling on
the floor, two soldiers beat me on my bare back. A teacher, Mrs Igboneku, came to plead on
my behalf, but they ignored her. They continued flogging me till I started bleeding. “After the torture,
one of the soldiers told me to put on my clothes and he ordered me to bend
and touch my toe for one hour. When I was released later, my shirt was
stained with blood. Soldiers
reportedly torture 18-year-old to death over stolen phone in Plateau Nurudeen Lawal,
NAIJ.com, 25 August 2018 www.naija.ng/1188333-soldiers-reportedly-torture-18-year-death-stolen-phone-plateau-photo.html#1188333 [accessed 25 August
2018] www.legit.ng/1188333-soldiers-reportedly-torture-18-year-death-stolen-phone-plateau-photo.html [accessed 10 January
2019] Akans said that Atajan’s explanation fell on deaf ears as the soldiers
reportedly tied him up and beat him with iron rods. “Before he died, he
narrated how he was tortured. He said, the soldiers hanged him upside down
and tied his hands to his back. They beat him with iron rods and sticks. “He
collapsed and was rushed to Bokkos General
Hospital. He was revived at the hospital but after three days, his condition
worsened. It was discovered that he had internal bleeding as a result of the
torture. Unfortunately, he passed on on Wednesday.
He was 18-year-old; he just finished secondary school. Read more:
https://www.naija.ng/1188333-soldiers-reportedly-torture-18-year-death-stolen-phone-plateau-photo.html#1188333. Buratai orders Army to
investigate torture of Delta community leader by soldiers Matthew Omonigho, Daily Post - Nigeria News, 26 May 2018 dailypost.ng/2018/05/26/buratai-orders-army-investigate-torture-delta-community-leader-soldiers/ [accessed 27 May
2018] At the Barracks, Odiete was stripped naked by the soldiers after which his legs and hands were chained by his abductors led
by Captain Kingsley Ukwani, who severely assaulted
and tortured him. The soldiers had
accused Citizen Odiete of being responsible for the
disappearance of one Oghenerume Bejeru,
an alleged robbery suspect caught in the act at the Ogodogun
– Ogode Urban Area in Ovwian
Town. Odiete
in the process of the torture sustained multiple bruises, lacerations to the
buttocks and his left upper limb swollen. The Area Commander,
ACP Muhammad M Shaba ordered the release of Citizen Odiete
after he was exonerated of any wrong doing on the 23rd day of February, 2018. SARS
men allegedly torture man to death in Ogun Jesusegun Alagbe,
Punch, 21 April 2018 www.punchng.com/sars-men-allegedly-torture-man-to-death-in-ogun/ [accessed 24 April
2018] Akeem’s boss,
Abbey, followed the SARS men to the police station around the market to
secure his bail. A policeman told him that it was a minor case and that he would
be released before the end of that day. When Abbey went back in the evening,
he was told that they had been taken to Abeokuta. The following
Tuesday, the police charged the suspects with robbery in a court at Ijebu Ode, but Akeem was not there. When the charges were
read to them, they exclaimed that they were not robbers. The police told the
court that the sixth person (Akeem) was dead. We were shocked. Damilare said after the
arraignment, he and a lawyer, on April 7, visited a prison in Ijebu Ode, where the defendants were remanded. There he met one of the accused,
identified only as Rotimi, who stated that Akeem
had died from torture in SARS custody and that they were framed for robbery. My
eardrum got cracked from beating, says police torture victim Joseph Jibueze, The Nation, 20 December 2017 thenationonlineng.net/my-eardrum-got-cracked-from-beating-says-police-torture-victim/ [accessed 22 December
2017] They said I should
put it in writing that the sum of N1million was given to me, and that I
delivered it to the suspect who killed somebody. I refused to write. They
started beating me, hitting me, asking me to do what they asked me to do. The
statement of my accuser was brought to me.
“They said I should put what I read in the statement in my own
statement. I said let my lawyer come. They beat me more. I started writing
rubbish. They took the pen from me and started writing. The more I talked,
the more I was beaten. After they finished, I was asked to sign, which I did. Adekoya said he was taken
before the suspect, Abidemi “Badoo”,
who insisted that he gave him N1million.
Hours later, he was taken before Edgal, who
interrogated Abidemi “Badoo”
in his presence. “He said he knew Badoo while I was chairman of Amuwo
Odofin Environmental Tax Force. The CP said:
‘Listen young man. If I should find out that this man is innocent, I won’t
take it easy with you. Tell me the truth.” “It was then the
suspect said that I was innocent. He said he was tortured to mention names,
including my name, and the names of some APC chiefs. The CP then directed the
officers to take me to the Police College Hospital for treatment. Why
torture is on increase in Nigeria Lawrence Njoku, The Guardian, Enugu, 4 December 2017 guardian.ng/news/why-torture-is-on-increase-in-nigeria/ [accessed 4 December
2017] Advocates of
protection and promotion of human rights in Nigeria have said that the spate
of torture in the country was due largely to the inability of people to
initiate actions against the perpetrators. They stated that
security officials had continued to engage in the act as if it was part of
their responsibility, because Nigerians failed to enforce their rights by
prosecuting the offending officers. She stated that
Enugu remained one of the states with high incidence of torture, because
“there are no accountabilities being demanded from security operatives.”She said the state had a record of an average
of 25 cases of victims of torture yearly, stressing that the number increased
to 30 this year due to archaic and mundane methods being employed by security
operatives to extract information on supposed victims of crimes and
criminalities in the state. Policemen
torture student for demanding to know offence Afeez Hanafi, Punch, 13
June 2016 punchng.com/policemen-torture-student-demanding-know-offence/ [accessed 4 August
2016] “I kept telling
them that I deserved to know my offence and if they couldn’t tell me, then
it’s a kidnap. One of them slapped me again, while others manhandled me, so I
kept quiet.” Rasaq said the policemen
allegedly collected between N5,000 and N10,000 from
others, but he paid N30,000 for being ‘stubborn’ before he was released. “We were over 70
that they arrested. They didn’t interrogate us or allow us to write any statement.
The following morning, the bargain started from N10,000
and they threatened to move us to the Kirikiri
Prisons. People begged and they agreed to take N5,000. “My people begged
them as well, they collected N30,000 from me for
being stubborn. Nigeria's
army behind countless acts of torture and 8,000 deaths, Amnesty says David Smith, Africa
correspondent, The Guardian, 3 June 2015 [accessed 21 June
2015] Amnesty set out on
Wednesday the case against five senior Nigerian officers in a 133-page report
based on hundreds of interviews, including with military sources, and leaked defence ministry documents. Amnesty researchers
also witnessed emaciated corpses in mortuaries, and one former Giwa detainee told the organisation
that around 300 people in his cell died after being denied water for two
days: “Sometimes we drank people’s urine, but even the urine you at times
could not get.” Former detainees
and senior military sources described how detainees were regularly tortured
to death, hung on poles over fires, tossed into deep pits or interrogated
using electric batons. Nigeria
torture victim condemned to hang at 16 gets reprieve after 10 years on death
row Michelle Faul Associated Press AP, 1 June 2015 www.startribune.com/nigeria-torture-victim-to-be-free-after-decade-on-death-row/305678331/ [accessed 18 June
2015] www.salon.com/2015/06/01/nigeria_torture_victim_to_be_free_after_decade_on_death_row/ [accessed 28 August
2016] [accessed 1 August
2017] Akatugba was a schoolboy
when soldiers arrested him for allegedly stealing three cellphones. He was
delivered to police officers who tortured him, including tearing out his
finger and toe nails with pliers, until he signed confessions admitting to
armed robbery, the activists said. Armed robbery
carries a mandatory death sentence in Nigeria, but minors are supposed to be
exempt. Police often use torture to extract confessions which are used in
courts despite laws prohibiting both, according to the latest U.S. State
Department report on human rights in Nigeria. Torture in prisons also is
common, it said. Human
Rights Watch World Report 2015 - Events of 2014 Human Rights Watch,
29 January 2015 www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/...
or
www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/wr2015_web.pdf [accessed 18 March
2015] NIGERIA CONDUCT OF SECURITY
FORCES
- Government security forces continued to respond to the Boko Haram violence
in a heavy-handed manner, leading to serious human rights violations.
Suspects are routinely abused, tortured, and held incommunicado in abusive
detention conditions without charge or trial. Torture Still
Happens in Nigeria Tosin Nguher,
Bella Naija, 10 November 2014 www.bellanaija.com/2014/11/10/tosin-nguher-torture-still-happens-in-nigeria/ [accessed 29
November 2014] They handcuffed my
legs and tie it with rope. They now carry a big rod and cross through my leg
and hands. One person lifts one side of the rod: the other person lifts the
other rod. They hang me up leaving the weight of the rod on me. They now use
machete, (and) one pipe iron to torture me. They tortured me in my chest,
head, stomach, leg and every part of my body. By the time they torture (d)
me, torture (d) me, torture (d) me, there was a lot of blood. They tortured
me on my heart, my face, my waist. There are wounds on my back. My mouth was
full of blood. I wanted to say help me but all that came out was blood.” They tortured me
until I lose control, until I collapse. I fainted totally. I lost control of
my body. Later I woke up and found myself lying in my pool of blood. When
they saw that I am awake, they ordered me to pack (pick) up my blood and eat
it. The blood was mixed with sand but they told me to eat it. I ate
everything. It’s smelly. I do it. They gave me a
paper and told me to sign. I wanted to know the content of the paper but they
used their gun to hit my head. I could not read what they wrote inside the
paper. I just signed.” Nigeria Has
Informal “Torture Officers” at Police Stations S.E. Smith, Care2,
24 Sept 2014 www.care2.com/causes/nigeria-has-informal-torture-officers-at-police-stations.html [accessed 17
November 2014] Amnesty’s press
release notes that: “The report also reveals how most of those detained are
held incommunicado – denied access to the outside world, including lawyers,
families and courts…Torture has become such an integral part of policing in
Nigeria that many police stations have an informal ‘Officer in Charge of
Torture’ or O/C Torture. They use an alarming array of techniques, including
nail or tooth extractions, choking, electric shocks and sexual violence.” Nigeria: ‘Welcome
to hell fire’: Torture and other ill-treatment in Nigeria Amnesty
International Report, 18 Sept 2014 www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR44/011/2014/en [accessed 17
November 2014] Torture is a
routine occurrence in Nigeria, largely to extract “confessions” or as
punishment for alleged crimes. Hundreds of suspects in police and military
custody across the country are being subjected to a range of physical and
psychological torture or other ill-treatment. Security forces are able to act
in a climate of impunity. This report reveals the experiences of former
detainees who have been tortured in police and military custody and the
government’s failure to prevent such violations or to bring suspected
perpetrators to justice. Amnesty: Nigerian
police routinely use torture Michelle Faul, Johannesburg, The Associated Press AP, 18 September
2014 bigstory.ap.org/article/256c3721035d4e3a83bb107b5fbcab6d/amnesty-nigerian-police-routinely-use-torture [accessed 19
September 2014] www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2014/09/nigeria-s-torture-chambers-exposed-new-report/ accessed 28 August
2016] Nigeria's police
and military routinely torture women, men and children as young as 12 with
beatings, shootings, rape, electric shocks and pliers used to pull out teeth
and nails, Amnesty International charged Thursday. Amnesty says
torture has become so institutionalized in Nigeria that many police stations
have an informal OC Torture, meaning "officer in charge of
torture." "Across the country,
the scope and severity of torture inflicted on Nigeria's women, men and
children by the authorities supposed to protect them is shocking to even the
most hardened human rights observer," he said. Boy, 20, dies after
police torture • We are investigating — Police Yinka Oladoyinbo,
Nigerian Tribune, Akure, 24 July 2014 www.tribune.com.ng/news/news-headlines/item/11435-boy-20-dies-after-police-torture-we-are-investigating-police [accessed 27 July
2014] www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/father-petitions-igp-sons-death-police-station/ [accessed 28 August
2016] The petition reads,
“On the 21st day of July, 2014, the deceased called his younger sister, Seun Badmus, informing her of
his arrest at ‘B’ Division, Akure, on the
allegation of stealing
handset. “That sequel to the
arrest, the complainant instructed Corporal Adesola Awodeyi,
who happened to be his friend to torture the deceased in order to admit the allegation
of stealing made against the deceased.” Badmus, however, claimed
that the deceased was taken away for about 35 minutes following which he was
allegedly tortured. The petition
further said, “That when the deceased was eventually brought back by Corporal
Awodeyi, his face was swollen and his bulged eyes
became so reddish to the extent that he could not compose himself as he began
to complain of headache and stomach ache. “That immediately
the deceased was dropped, he started vomiting and foaming through his mouth
and nose, and the deceased was taken to the hospital where it was confirmed
that he is already dead. Hundreds of
kidnapped Nigerian school girls reportedly sold as brides to militants for
$12, relatives say Terrence McCoy,
Washington Post, 30 April 2014 [accessed 30 April
2014] Village elder Pogo Bitrus told Agence France Presse locals had consulted with “various sources” in the
nation’s forested northeast. “From the information we received yesterday from
Cameroonian border towns our abducted girls were taken… into Chad and
Cameroon,” he said, adding that each girl was sold as a bride to Islamist
militants for 2,000 naira — $12. But the girls’
capture and alleged sell-off constitutes one of its most disturbing actions
yet. On April 14, scores of armed militants stormed a dormitory in Chibok at
night, captured hundreds of girls, and disappeared back into the night. Police Deny
Torturing Suspect to Obtain Statement This Day Live, 28
February 2014 www.thisdaylive.com/articles/uniport4-police-deny-torturing-suspect-to-obtain-statement/172656/ [accessed 1 March
2014] www.vanguardngr.com/2014/02/uniport4-police-deny-torturing-suspect-obtain-statement/ [accessed 28 August
2016] The Rivers Police
Command Thursday denied torturing Lawal Segun, a Port Harcourt commercial taxi driver, to extract
information from him in October 2012. Njoku said the first
accused person made a confessional statement without torture or any
application of force. He said Segun made two statements: one when he was arrested in
October 2012, and the second after watching the video clip of the murder in Aluu village. But Segun insisted that the police beat him and threatened to
shoot him if he refused to sign the statement. The first accused
person, who was led in evidence by his counsel, said the police tortured and
inflicted body injuries on him. Cops torture
driver, handcuff him over alleged disrespect Samson Folarin,
Punch, 28 February 2014 www.punchng.com/metro-plus/cops-torture-driver-handcuff-him-over-alleged-disrespect/ [accessed 1 March
2014] [accessed 28 August
2016] “He dragged me into the police hospital. I
was seriously beaten up. I was chained to the machine rail, while the man in
mufti kicked me. I was told that I disrespected the rank of the man by not
giving him my key.” He said the cop
vowed to dump him in the Ikoyi Prison, adding that
as he was preparing the necessary papers for his detention, the superior
police officer saw him where he was chained, and queried Okon. He was said to have
been released by the officer after it was discovered that he had not
committed any offence. The Anambra State indigene
said after he was released from the hospital on the second day, Okon still came after him and deflated his car tyres. Luke Gum, a
graduate of Mass Communication from the Lagos State University, who also
operates a cab business in the Falomo area, said
cab drivers were usually harassed and extorted by policemen. Torture: Court
orders police, MainStreet bank to pay N5 million
damages News Agency of
Nigeria NAN, 4 November 2013 [accessed 4 Nov
2013] The bank driver was
tortured and detained for 12 days without trial. A High court in Oyigbo, Rivers State, has ordered the police and MainStreet bank to pay N5 million as damages to an
ex-employee of the bank. Mr. Amaefule, who was a driver to the bank, had told the
court that he was arrested by the police in May and detained for 12 days and
tortured. He said that the
Deputy Commissioner in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department
(SCID) and his officers tortured him in the commissioner’s office. Mr. Amaefule added that the torture was to force him to write
a confessional statement that he threatened to kidnap the manager. Nigerian police
routinely murder, rape and torture suspects, says rights report Dave Clark, Economic
News, Lagos, 28 July 2005 www.namibian.com.na/indexx.php?archive_id=14228&page_type=archive_story_detail&page=5096 [accessed 5 Feb
2014] www.irinnews.org/report/89220/nigeria-police-kill-rape-torture-and-extort-says-rights-group [accessed 10 January
2019] Nigerian police
routinely murder, torture and rape suspects in order to extract confessions
and cover up their own corruption, the US-based pressure group Human Rights
Watch said in a report released on Wednesday. The report is peppered
with graphic witness accounts of how they were tied up, hung from ceilings,
beaten, given electric shocks, sexually assaulted and threatened with death. Schoolgirls told of
being brought in and raped. Most victims were
suspects in ordinary crimes, but others had simply refused to pay the bribes
demanded routinely and openly at police checkpoints. "The inspector
beat me with a belt and wooden sticks and sprayed teargas in my private parts Nigerian Police
rely mostly on torture to obtain information from suspects 247ureports.com,
Daily Post www.spyghana.com/nigerian-police-rely-mostly-on-torture-to-obtain-information-from-suspects/ [accessed 4 February
2013] Part of the
document reads: “In most of the cases handled by ASF France and its partners,
the victims endured severe violence during their detention. “Many persons” were
beaten repeatedly by police officers in prison, some of them suffering
particularly inhuman and degrading treatments.” “It appears that
such treatments are carried out commonly in several detention facilities by
the police to obtain full confessions from detained persons.” “In many cases,
victims were detained for three or four years before they appear before a
judge.” The report further
revealed the pitiable conditions of the police detention facilities, and also
accused police officers of arresting relatives of suspects in cases where the
accused persons are not available. Corruption
Fueling Police Abuses Human Rights Watch,
Lagos , August 17, 2010 www.hrw.org/news/2010/08/17/nigeria-corruption-fueling-police-abuses [accessed 4 February
2013] EMBEZZLEMENT - At the same time,
senior police officials are also allegedly embezzling staggering sums of
public funds meant to cover basic police operations. The 2009 budget for the
Nigeria Police Force totaled $1.4 billion. But the daily reality is that
embezzlement and mismanagement has left the police with limited investigatory
capacity and government forensic laboratories at a near standstill. The lack
of needed resources appears to lead many police officers to use torture as
their primary tool for collecting information from criminal suspects. AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL From an old article -- URL not available Article was
published sometime prior to 2015 UNLAWFUL KILLINGS Unlawful killings
were carried out by the police across Nigeria. In March 2012, the Chairman of
the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Governing Council said an
estimated 2,500 detainees were summarily killed by the police every year. On 8 April,
Blessing Monday, a 16-year-old boy living on the streets around the Abali Park Flyover in Port Harcourt, was shot and killed
by police officers from Mile 1 Police Station who suspected he had stolen a
bag. The police later discovered that Blessing Monday had not stolen the bag. On 24 May, Goodluck Agbaribote, a former
resident of the demolished Abonnema Wharf in Port
Harcourt, was killed by officers from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)
while he was bathing in a communal well. The police claimed he was an armed
robber. In November, the
Nigerian Police Force eventually told a High Court in Port Harcourt that
Chika Ibeku, who had “disappeared” in 2009
following his arrest and detention by the police, was in fact killed by the
police in a “shootout”. The family, through a local NGO, filed a lawsuit
requesting the autopsy report. TORTURE AND OTHER
ILL-TREATMENT Torture and other
cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of criminal suspects and detainees,
perpetrated by the security forces, remained widespread. On 9 January,
Alexander Nworgu was arrested in Owerri, Imo State, and taken to the police anti-kidnapping
unit in Rivers State. He claims that, while in custody, he was regularly
beaten with a machete and suspended from the ceiling by his feet every other
day. After spending more than a month in police detention he was remanded in
prison on 15 February before eventually being released on bail on 6 July. The
charges against him were changed to theft while he was in police detention. JUSTICE SYSTEM Widespread
corruption and disregard for due process and the rule of law continued to
blight Nigeria’s criminal justice system. Many people were arbitrarily
arrested and detained for months without charge. Police continued to ask
people to pay money for their release from detention. Many detainees were
kept on remand in prison for lengthy periods and in harsh conditions. Court
processes remained slow and largely distrusted. According to the Executive
Secretary of the NHRC, over 70% of people in detention were awaiting either
trial or sentencing. Court orders were often ignored by police and security
forces. On 30 April,
Patrick Okoroafor was released from prison after 17
years. He had been unfairly sentenced to death for robbery, at the age of 14,
after an unfair trial. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 5 Civil
Liberties: 4 Status: Partly Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/nigeria [accessed 4 February
2013] LONG
URL ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 13 May
2020] Nigeria continues
to suffer from abuses by security forces and a climate of impunity. In 2007,
a UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions found
that “torture and ill-treatment is widespread in police custody.” Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61586.htm [accessed 4 February
2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61586.htm [accessed 4 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – Although the law
prohibits such practices and provides for punishment of such abuses, police,
military, and security force officers regularly beat protesters, criminal
suspects, detainees, and convicted prisoners. Police physically mistreated
civilians regularly in attempts to extort money from them. The law prohibits
the introduction into trials of evidence and confessions obtained through
torture. In some cases, persons died from torture in custody (see section
1.a.). ARBITRARY OR
UNLAWFUL DEPRIVATION OF LIFE - Criminal suspects
died from unnatural causes while in official custody, usually as the result
of neglect and harsh treatment (see section 1.c.). For example on May 1, in Kubwa, police beat bus driver Gabriel Agbane
while arresting him. When Agbane's family went to
the police station the next day, they found him unconscious. Police released
him to the family, who took him to a hospital, where he died four days later.
Police announced to journalists that Agbane had
been drunk during the arrest, had not been healthy, and had fainted on his
own. In its July report
"Rest in Pieces - Police Torture and Deaths in Custody in Nigeria,"
Human Rights Watch described how in May six young men being held in police
custody in connection with a bank robbery in Enugu were led before
journalists at the state criminal investigation department, even though they
had not been convicted of the crime. Their families were denied access to
them despite repeated efforts. On May 9, the families were told the suspects
had been transferred to state police headquarters in Enugu, but officers in
Enugu denied they were there. Days later the bodies of the six young men were
found at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital mortuary in Enugu. Officials
did not respond to the families' inquiries for additional information. In March an
investigative panel released its report on the October 2004 incident in which
police had secretly buried 12 bodies in a mass grave in Kaduna. The panel
found that the victims had attempted a jailbreak, but that the police had
acted improperly in killing them and attempting to hide the bodies. The panel
forwarded its recommendations to the federal government, which had taken no
action by year's end. On June 7, police in
Apo stopped six traders at a vehicle checkpoint. An argument ensued, and the
police shot and killed two of the six, then detained the other four, who were
subsequently killed in custody.The police attempted
to bury the six bodies secretly, but Apo residents found and unearthed the
bodies, then marched with the corpses to the police station. Police fled the
resulting riot. The police claimed the six had been "armed
robbers." Six police officers, including a deputy commissioner of
police, were charged with murder. The trial continued at year's end. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance
& Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st Century-
Nigeria", http://gvnet.com/torture/Nigeria.htm, [accessed <date>] |
