05.2007 - Source: US Commission on International Religious Freedom

More rapid and effective response to sectarian violence by security authorities, but prosecution remains inadequate ("Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom") [ID 20782]

"Despite the ongoing nature of sectarian violence, the number of those killed decreased in the past year due to a more rapid and effective response by security authorities. However, prosecution of those involved with instigating sectarian violence remains inadequate, and President Obasanjo has been criticised both inside and outside Nigeria for not responding more decisively to the violence and the communal tensions brought about by the sharia controversy. He has primarily played a mediating role, stressing political negotiations rather than ordering the government to intervene to stop or prevent further violence. Moreover, many Christians and Muslims have been identified as perpetrators of violence over the years, but very few, if any, have been prosecuted or brought to justice. In fact, security and police forces have sometimes been accused of using excessive force, including extrajudicial killings, to curb communal violence. In an unprecedented admission, in August 2005, President Obasanjo stated publicly that the Nigerian police force had been guilty of torture and extrajudicial killings in numerous instances, and vowed to enforce adherence by police to universal human rights standards. After her visit to Nigeria in February-March 2005, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief stated that the Nigerian government should ensure that investigations of communal and sectarian violence are thorough, including through the identification and prosecution of the alleged perpetrators. In addition, the Nigerian government “should take very firm positions whenever religion is at the origin of human rights violations, regardless of which religious community is concerned.” In October 2006, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Maccido, widely regarded as the spiritual leader of Nigerian Muslims, died in an airplane accident. In recent years, Maccido frequently spoke out in an effort to end sectarian and communal violence between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria."

Document(s): Open document

06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Role of the police (duties, organisation, human rights abuses and impunity) ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 19616]

"The National Police Force (NPF) is responsible for law enforcement. Internal security is the duty of the State Security Service (SSS), which reports to the president through the national security advisor. Police were unable to control societal violence on numerous occasions during the year, and the government continued its reliance on the army in some cases. Each NPF state unit was commanded by an assistant inspector general. The law prohibits state and local-level governments from organizing their own police forces. The NPF committed human rights abuses and did not noticeably decrease the incidence of violent crime nationwide (see section 1.a.). Police generally operated with impunity in the apprehension, illegal detention, and sometimes execution of criminal suspects. The SSS also was responsible for a variety of human rights abuses, particularly in limiting freedom of speech and press (see section 1.a.)."

Document(s): Open document

21.09.2006 - Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (formerly Global IDP Project)

Security forces accused of failing to provide security during outbreaks of communal violence ("Heightened risk of violence and displacement ahead of 2007 elections") [ID 18028]

"Human rights organisations have consistently accused the Nigerian security forces of failing to provide security during outbreaks of communal violence, and of using excessive force that has contributed to high death tolls. During the May 2004 clashes in Plateau state, police and army reinforcements were only sent to the town of Yelwa after hundreds of people had already been killed, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW, 11 May 2004). Local media reported that Yelwa residents accused the police and army of assisting the attackers, some of whom were armed with military-issue assault rifles (Vanguard, 8 May 2004)."

Document(s): Open document

07.2006 - Source: Freedom House

Some hitmen of death squads active under General Sani Abacha in the 1990s have been returned to duty in state security services ("Countries at the Crossroads 2006") [ID 18419]

"Most worrisome [...] was the government's de facto admission in 2005 that the machinery for the notorious death squads active under General Sani Abacha in the 1990s has apparently not been dismantled, and that hitmen from these squads - some awaiting trial - have been returned to duty at the Directorate of Military Intelligence and other state security services."

Document(s): Open document

08.03.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Role of the police and security apparatus ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2005") [#46036],  [ID 17067]

"The National Police Force (NPF) is responsible for law enforcement. Internal security is the duty of the State Security Service (SSS), which reports to the president through the national security advisor. Police were unable to control societal violence on numerous occasions during the year, and the government continued its reliance on the army in some cases. Each NPF state unit was commanded by an assistant inspector general. The law prohibits local and state police forces. The NPF was responsible for human rights abuses and did not noticeably decrease the incidence of violent crime nationwide (see section 1.a.). Corruption was rampant, most often taking the form of bribes at highway checkpoints. Police generally operated with impunity in the apprehension, illegal detention, and sometimes execution of criminal suspects."

Document(s): Open document

19.01.2005 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Head of Nigeria’s police force, Tafa Balogun, suspected of corruption, resigns ("Police chief suspected of corruption resigns") [#29966],  [ID 15255]

Document(s): Open document

08.2004 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

Organisational structure and tasks of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) ("Nigeria - Länderbericht") [#28135],  [ID 15256]

"Seit der Unabhängigkeit des Landes 1960 wurden bereits einige Reformen des Polizeiwesens umgesetzt (GS, NPF, letzte Aktualisierung: 15. Juli 2002). Auch die Regierung Obasanjo begann schon kurz nach ihrer
Einsetzung mit diversen Schritten, die Polizei umzustrukturieren und auch entzupolitisieren. Sie verordnete einen Plan, dem zufolge innerhalb von fünf Jahren jährlich 10.000 Polizeibeamte pensioniert werden und im Gegenzug insgesamt 25.000 neue Beamte eingestellt werden sollten. Eine weitere sogleich in Angriff genommene Reform betraf die Restrukturierung der Anti-Crime Squads, die besonders berüchtigt für Menschenrechtsverletzungen waren (Abiodun 2000, S. 33.-34).

Der Chef der nigerianischen Polizei, Inspector General Tafa Balogun, berichtet, dass die Mannstärke von 130.000 im Jahr 1999 auf mittlerweile (März 2004) 300.000 erhöht wurde. Jedoch sind die materiellen Ressourcen äußerst begrenzt. Balogun spricht davon, dass in ganz Nigeria, mit einer auf 120 Millionen geschätzten Bevölkerung, lediglich zwei einsatzbereite Helikopter zur Verfügung stehen (AllAfrica.com/The
News 22. März 2004).

Die Verfassung von 1999 sieht in § 214,1 vor, dass es neben der NPF keinerlei andere Polizeikörper geben darf. Der Police Act stammt ursprünglich aus dem Jahr 1943 und wurde bis zum heutigen Datum kaum
verändert. Als Funktionen der NPF werden folgende Punkte genannt: Verbrechensverhütung und Aufklärung von Verbrechen; Festnahme von Tätern; Aufrechterhaltung von Gesetz und Ordnung; Schutz von Leben und Eigentum; Durchsetzung aller Gesetze und Vorschriften, zu welcher sie beauftragt wurden und militärische Aufgaben innerhalb oder außerhalb Nigerias, sofern sie dazu aufgefordert werden.

Der nigerianischen Polizei werden weitgehende Rechte eingeräumt. Speziell das Recht Verdächtige strafrechtlich zu verfolgen (eigentliche Zuständigkeit liegt laut Verfassung beim Staatsanwalt) als auch die
Freilassung von Verdächtigen gegen Kaution gehen über die üblichen Kompetenzen von Polizeibeamten hinaus (Cleen & Alemika, 2003).

Die NPF gliedert sich in ein Hauptquartier, in 12 Zonen-Kommandaturen, in 36 Gliedstaaten-Kommandaturen und einer Kommandatur der Hauptstadtregion (FCT). Oberster Verantwortlicher der NPF ist der Inspector General ."

Document(s): Open document

14.09.2002 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

Mobile Police ("Nigeria - Länderbericht") [#8685],  [ID 15257]

"Die Mobile Police sind hochgerüstete schnell einsatzbereite Polizeieinheiten, die zur Verbrechensbekämpfung in Großstädten sowie zur Niederschlagung von Unruhen vor allem im Niger-Delta eingesetzt und wegen ihrer raschen Schießbereitschaft zahlreicher außergerichtlicher
Erschießungen beschuldigt werden. Im Mai 2002 kündigte Balogun an, die Anzahl der Mobilen Polizeieinheiten von 45 auf 900 zu erhöhen (IRIN 8. Mai 2002; BBC 11. Mai 2001).

Etwa 1000 Angehörige der Mobile Police wurden im Mai 2002 im Niger Delta eingesetzt, um Ölstationen der ExxonMobil vor Sabotageakten des Ijaw Youth Council zu schützen. Der Vorsitzende der Marine erklärte, die Marine sei zu jeder Maßnahme gegen Versuche, die Tätigkeiten der Ölfirmen im Niger-Delta zu stören bereit (IRB 5. Juni 2002 unter Berufung auf IRIN, Vanguard)."

Document(s): Open document

2000 - Source: CLEEN Foundation (formerly Centre for Law Enforcement Education)

CLEEN: Organisation of Nigeria Police Force ("Police-Community Violence in Nigeria") [#8577],  [ID 15258]

"Nigeria currently has a centralised police force - Nigeria Police Force, established in 1930. This was sequel to the dissolution of local police forces in 1966.2 The 1979 and 1999 constitutions explicitly prohibited the establishment of police forces other than the Nigeria Police Force. Section 214(1) stipulates:
There shall be a Police Force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the Nigeria Police Force, and subject to the provisions of this section no other police force shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof.
[...]
The Force is organised into 37 Commands and the Force Headquarters. Each of the
thirty-six States and the Federal Capital Territory is served by a Command of the Force.
The Force Headquarters is the office of the Inspector General of Police."

Document(s): Open document