US lists human rights abuses by Nigerian forces

By Tume Ahemba

LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigerian security forces carried out
political murders and other extra-judicial killings in 2005 and
used excessive force in their actions against criminals or
protesters, the U.S. Department of State said in a report.

Six years after military dictatorship ended and a civilian
government took office, troops and police in Africa’s most
populous country committed other serious human rights abuses
including torture and unlawful detention, the report says.

It will make unwelcome reading for President Olusegun
Obasanjo, who has been in power since 1999 and has sought to
improve Nigeria’s democratic credentials. The army has ruled
Nigeria for most of its history since independence in 1960.

“National police, army, and other security forces committed
extra-judicial killings or used excessive force to apprehend
criminals and to disperse protesters,” the report says.

Among many other examples, it says security forces were
instructed to use lethal force against suspected criminals and
vandals near oil pipelines in the southern Niger Delta, which
produces Nigeria’s 2.4 million barrels per day of crude oil.

It says soldiers killed at least 15 civilians and burned
many houses during a February 2005 raid on the remote village
of Odioma in the delta, ostensibly aimed at hunting down
militiamen suspected of killings.

“There were reports of summary executions, assaults, and
other abuses carried out by military personnel and paramilitary
mobile police across the Niger Delta,” the report says.

Army repression is one of the factors in a deep crisis in
the delta, where militants are holding three Western hostages
and have attacked the oil industry, cutting output by a fifth.

“There was politically motivated killings by the government
or its agents,” the report says, citing assassinations in the
southwestern state of Oyo and central Kogi state.

VIOLENT ROADBLOCKS

The police come in for heavy criticism and accusations that
many use their position to extort money from motorists. The
report says police ignored an order from the inspector general
to stop setting up illegal roadblocks.

“Roadblocks continued nationwide. Security forces
frequently killed persons while trying to extort money from
them,” it says, listing specific cases.

Last year, Human Rights Watch urged Western donors funding
police reform in Nigeria to link continued aid to measurable
steps to curb the torture and killing of criminal suspects.

The U.S. report said other abuses by officials included
harsh punishment by Islamic Sharia courts, executive
interference in the judiciary and restriction of freedom of
speech.

The report also said endemic corruption, weak
infrastructure and general economic mismanagement hindered the
growth of the world’s eighth largest oil exporter in 2005.

“Corruption was massive, widespread, and pervasive, at all
levels of the government and society,” the report said.

Obasanjo launched a much-publicized campaign against
corruption after his re-election in 2003. The crackdown has led
to the conviction a former police chief and to the sackings of
several ministers and senior politicians.

But the president’s critics accuse him of selective
justice, arguing the anti-graft campaign is used as a weapon
against his opponents. The presidency denies the charge.