United States (US) authorities have indicted the Nigeria police, military, and Department of State Services (DSS) for corruption, human rights violation, and impunity.
The indictment of the security agencies by the US Department of State was contained in the 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for Nigeria.
According to the U.S agency report, Impunity, exacerbated by corruption and a weak judiciary, remained a significant problem in the security forces, especially in police, military, and the Department of State Services.
The report stated that even though the Police, the military, and the Department of State Services report to civilian authorities they however periodically acted outside civilian control.
“There were credible reports that members of the security forces committed numerous abuses.”
The report contained incidents of extrajudicial killings, stifling of free speech, human rights violations, political witch-hunting, and others issues in Nigeria.
The US said the opaque nature of disciplining offending officials encourages impunity and that the systems shield erring officers found culpable in multiple crimes.
“The government regularly utilized disciplinary boards and mechanisms to investigate security force members and hold them accountable for crimes committed on duty, but the results of these accountability mechanisms were not always made public,” US Department of State said.
Two of Nigeria’s anti-graft agencies – the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were cited for inconclusive prosecution of public officials charged for corruption.
The US Department of State report also did not spare the anti-graft agencies as it accused them of being selective and “focused on low- and mid-level government officials.” It, however, acknowledged that both organisations brought indictments against various active and former high-level government officials.
“Many of the corruption cases, particularly the high-profile ones, remained pending before the courts due to administrative or procedural delays,” the report said, stating that the government deliberately underfunds the judiciary to make it ineffective.
On human rights violations, the report noted that the National Committee against Torture established by the Ministry of Justice has been hindered from working effectively due to a “lack of legal and operational independence and limited funding.”
“Prison and detention centre conditions remained harsh and life-threatening,” the report said. “Prisoners and detainees reportedly were subjected to gross overcrowding, inadequate medical care, food and water shortages, and other abuses. Some of these conditions resulted in deaths.”
