Nigeria – Events of 2016

he euphoria and optimism that followed the relatively peaceful 2015 elections that brought in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari gradually gave way to concern in 2016. Many of the grave human rights challenges he promised to address in his inauguration speech remain largely unaddressed and unresolved. Changes in military leadership and improved regional coordination resulted in a consistent push back against the insurgent group, Boko Haram, forcing it to cede most of the territory it controlled in the northeast. The group however continues to commit crimes against civilians, including abductions and forced recruitment.

The waning intensity of Boko Haram attacks is overshadowed by an inadequate response to the humanitarian crisis. Most of the 2.5 million internally displaced people (IDPs) lack basic rights such as rights to food, shelter, education, healthcare, protection from harm, as well as the right to freedom of movement. Displaced women and girls suffer rape and sexual exploitation perpetrated by fellow IDPs, members of vigilante groups, policemen, and soldiers.

In December 2015, the army killed 347 members of the Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) after a road blockade by the group in Zaria. Hundreds of IMN members including the leader, Ibrahim El Zakzaky, and his wife remained in custody without charges at time of writing.

The ban imposed on the IMN by the Kaduna State government in October 2016 triggered a wave of bans against Shia in four northern states. Since then, Shia religious activities have been met with mob and police violence leading to the death of scores of IMN members in Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Plateau, Sokoto, and Yobe States.

Elsewhere in the country, deadly communal violence between farmers and pastoralists, previously limited to north-central states spread southward in 2016. The lack of justice for victims helped fuel reprisal attacks leading to cycles of violence. In the south, government response to agitation for a separate state of Biafra and militant activities in the Niger Delta left scores of people dead and entire communities destroyed.

Human Rights Watch – Nigeria in 2017