Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2018: Nigeria profile (28 May 2018) […+ F2. Does due process prevail in civil and criminal matters? 1 / 4
There have been numerous allegations of extortion and bribe taking within the police force. […]
United National General Assembly, Human Rights Council, Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, Thirty-first session, 5-16 November 2018, Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on Nigeria:
Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (24 August 2018) […+ III. Information provided by other stakeholders
[…] C. Implementation of international human rights obligations, taking into account applicable international humanitarian law
[…+ 2. Civil and political rights
[…] Administration of justice, including impunity, and the rule of law63
37. FLD [Front Line Defenders, Ireland] expressed serious concerns about the impartiality and independence of the criminal justice system. It stated that wealthy individuals, the police, the security forces and government agencies had repeatedly used the criminal justice system to target those who exposed corruption.64 HRF [Human Rights Foundation, USA] stated that corruption had contributed to the miscarriage of justice as judicial personnel had been known to solicit bribes in order to deliver favourable rulings.65 […+ (p. 5)
63 For relevant recommendations see A/HRC/25/6, para. 135.71, 135.79, 135.113, 135.114, 135.116-135.121.
[…] 64 FLD, para. 15. FLD made recommendations (para. 27).
65 HRF, para. 14. HRF made a recommendation (para. 18 (c).
66 LEPAD, p. 6, LEPAD made recommendations (p. 6).
Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2018 (29 January 2019)
[…+ The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople, uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. More than two-thirds of countries score below 50 on this year’s CPI, with an average score of just 43.
It reveals that the continued failure of most countries to significantly control corruption is contributing to a crisis in democracy around the world. While there are exceptions, the data shows that despite some progress, most countries are failing to make serious inroads against corruption.
[…+
# COUNTRY REGION 2018 2017 2016 2015
144 Nigeria Sub-Saharan Africa 27 27 28 26
[…+
United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018: Nigeria (13 March 2019)
[…+ Role of the Police and Security Apparatus
*…+ Police, DSS [The State Security Service (SSS), self-styled as the Department of State Services (DSS)], and military reported to civilian authorities but periodically acted outside civilian control. The government lacked effective mechanisms and sufficient political will to investigate and punish most security force abuse and corruption. Police remained susceptible to corruption, committed human rights violations, and operated with widespread impunity in the apprehension, illegal detention, and torture of suspects. In September the NPF [Nigeria Police Force] Public Complaint and Rapid
Response Unit reported it had recovered approximately 1.1 million naira ($3,038) in bribery payments and dismissed 10 officers in the past two years. Dismissals of low-level officers, however, did not deter continuing widespread extortion and abuse of civilians. The DSS also reportedly committed human rights abuses. In some cases private citizens or the government brought charges against perpetrators of human rights abuses, but most cases lingered in court or went unresolved after an initial investigation. In the armed forces, a soldier’s commanding officer determined disciplinary action, and the decision was subject to review by the chain of command according to the Armed Forces Act. In 2016 the army announced the creation of a human rights desk to investigate complaints of human rights violations brought by civilians, and set up a standing general court martial in Maiduguri. The human rights desk in Maiduguri coordinated with the NHRC [National Human Rights Commission] and Nigerian Bar Association to receive and investigate complaints, although their capacity and ability to investigate complaints outside of major population centers remained limited. As of September the court martial in Maiduguri had reached verdicts in 39 cases since inception, some of which resulted in convictions for rape, murder, and abduction of civilians.
Many credible accusations of abuses, however, remained uninvestigated and unpunished.
Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees
Police and other security services have the authority to arrest individuals without first obtaining warrants if they have reasonable suspicion a person committed an offense, a power they often abused. The law requires that, even during a state of emergency, detainees must appear before a magistrate within 48 hours and have access to lawyers and family members. In many instances government and security officials did not adhere to this regulation without being bribed. Police held for interrogation individuals found in the vicinity of a crime for periods ranging from a few hours to several months, and after their release, authorities frequently asked the individuals to return for further questioning. The law requires an arresting officer to inform the accused of charges at the time of arrest, transport the accused to a police station for processing within a reasonable time, and allow the suspect to obtain counsel and post bail. Families were afraid to approach military barracks used as detention facilities. Police routinely 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 often set exceedingly stringent bail conditions. In many areas with no functioning bail system, suspects remained incarcerated indefinitely in investigative detention. 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 often demanded additional payment. *…+ (pp. 12-13)
Transparency International, Global Corruption Barometer Africa 2019: Citizens’ Views and Experiences of Corruption (July 2019)
[…+
Country Surveying organisation Fieldwork dates Sample size
Afrobarometer countries
Nigeria Practical Sampling International (PSI) 26 Apr-10 May 2017 1.600 […] BRIBERY RATES*
* Based on people who used these public services in the previous 12 months.
2015 2019
Overall bribery rate 43% 44%
Public schools 25% 32%
Public clinics and health centers 24% 20%
IDs 32% 38%
Police 45% 47%
[…] HAS CORRUPTION LEVEL CHANGED IN THE PREVIOUS 12 MONTHS?
2015 2019
Increased 75% 43%
Decreased 8% 43%
Stayed the same 16% 14%
Don’t know 1% 0%
Refused to answer 0% 0%
[…] CAN ORDINARY PEOPLE MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION?
2015 2019
Yes 39% 54%
No 45% 41%
Neither yes nor no 14% 4%
Don’t know / refused to answer 2% 1%
[…+ CORRUPTION BY INSTITUTION*
* Percentage who think that most or all people in these institutions are corrupt.
Institution 2015 2019
President / Prime Minister 54% 43%
Members of Parliament 61% 60%
Government officials 63% 54%
Local government officials 58% 55%
Police 72% 69%
Judges and Magistrates 45% 51%
Religious leaders 28% 20%
NGOs - 40%
Business Executives 45% 44%
Traditional leaders 36% 35%
[…+ IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING A GOOD OR BAD JOB OF FIGHTING CORRUPTION 2015 2019
Good 22% 59%
Bad 78% 40%
Don’t know 1% 1%
Refused to answer 0% 0%
[…+
43% Think corruption increased in the previous 12 months
44% Of public service users paid a bribe in the previous 12 months
40% Think their government is doing a bad job of tackling corruption make a difference in the fight 54% against corruption […+ (p. 49)
D.U. Enweremadu, “Understanding Police Corruption and Its Effect on Internal Security in Nigeria”, In: Oshita O., Alumona I., Onuoha F. (eds) Internal Security Management in Nigeria (Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore, 2019)
*…+ The chapter reveals that police corruption is a major contributing factor to internal insecurity in Nigeria. A commonly mentioned effect of police corruption on the society is the loss of lives through extrajudicial killings; arrest and illegal detention of citizens orchestrated by policemen and citizens’
unwillingness to report suspected cases of crimes to police making such crimes difficult to curtail.
The causes of these anomalies include inadequate or irregular welfare packages for policemen, low level of professionalism within the force and political class interference in the operations of the
police. On the basis of these findings, the study recommends that the authorities should recruit more and better-educated police officers, improve logistics and welfare packages and move towards an independent and community police. *…+