By Nse Anthony-Uko
(Sundiata Post) – The United States government has reported increased grave human rights violations in 2017 under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch while officials who perpetrated them were never prosecuted.
The Nigeria 2017 Human Rights Report, released by the US government in Washington D.C ahead of President Buhari’s scheduled visit to President Donald Trump, also indicted the his administration of widespread impunity at all levels of government.
Buhari is scheduled to meet with President Trump at the White House on April 30, and both men would likely discuss further U.S military assistance to Nigeria against the backdrop of serious human rights violations by security forces who use the same weapons to kill civilians.
The U.S. annual report on global human rights violations, released in Washington D.C. said the administration of President Buhari, “Took steps to investigate alleged abuses, but fewer steps to prosecute officials who committed violations, whether in the security forces or elsewhere in the government.
“Impunity remained widespread at all levels of government. The government did not adequately investigate or prosecute most of the major outstanding allegations of human rights violations by the security forces or the majority of cases of police or military extortion or other abuse of power.”
“Most significant human rights issues included extrajudicial and arbitrary killings; disappearances and arbitrary detentions; torture, particularly in detention facilities, including sexual exploitation and abuse; use of children by some security elements, looting, and destruction of property.
“There were also civilian detentions in military facilities, often based on flimsy evidence; denial of fair public trial; executive influence on the judiciary; infringement on citizens’ privacy rights; restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and movement
“This was in addition to official corruption; lack of accountability in cases involving violence against women and children, including female genital mutilation/cutting and sexual exploitation of children; trafficking in persons; early and forced marriages; criminalization of status and same-sex sexual conduct based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and forced and bonded labour.
The report recognized that Boko Haram terror group also committed a myriad of human rights violations, killing and torturing and imprisoning women and children and bombing entire villages.
“The groups conducted numerous attacks on government and civilian targets that resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries, widespread destruction, the internal displacement of approximately 1.8 million persons, and external displacement of an estimated 205,000 Nigerian refugees to neighbouring countries, principally Cameroon, Chad, and Niger,” the report said.