US flags human rights, justice delays, economic strain in Nigeria

The United States government has expressed concerns over human rights, justice delivery, and economic realities in Nigeria, highlighting arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and erosion of workers’ earnings due to naira depreciation.

In its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2024, released by the Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, Washington detailed persistent problems within Nigeria’s security and judicial systems, while also questioning the impact of the new national minimum wage on citizens’ welfare.

The report noted that security forces frequently exercised arrest powers without warrants, sometimes detaining suspects indefinitely without trial.

Amnesty International was quoted as saying that the whereabouts of dozens of young men arrested at the notorious SARS Awkuzu unit in Anambra State remain unknown, years after the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in 2020.

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According to the report, although Nigerian law mandates that detainees must be presented before a magistrate within 48 hours, with access to family and lawyers, these safeguards are often ignored.

It also observed that pre-trial detention sometimes stretched beyond the maximum sentence prescribed for alleged crimes.

“The shortage of trial judges, trial backlogs, endemic corruption, bureaucratic inertia, and undue political influence seriously hampered the judicial system,” the report stated.

It added that many detainees could not appear in court due to lack of prison vehicles, while others remained incarcerated because their case files were missing.

The report further accused law enforcement agencies of failing to observe due process in corruption cases, sometimes conducting arrests without appropriate warrants.

On wages and living standards, the report stressed that the new ₦70,000 minimum wage, approved under the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2024, had been severely weakened by the naira’s continued depreciation, with the pay amounting to just about $47.90 monthly at an exchange rate of over ₦1,500 to the dollar.

“Despite the increase, currency devaluation meant the minimum wage was no longer higher than the poverty income level,” it said, noting that many employers were exempt because they had fewer than 25 workers.

The US also pointed out that enforcement was weak, with penalties for violations “low and not commensurate with other crimes such as fraud.”

The report highlighted that between 70 and 80 percent of Nigeria’s workforce operates in the informal economy, where labour standards are poorly enforced.

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It also flagged widespread child marriage practices, particularly in northern states, despite federal law setting 18 as the minimum age.

While 35 states have adopted the law, Zamfara State has not, and many states still permit child marriages under religious or customary law.