The United States has accused Nigerian authorities under Bola Tinubu of widespread human rights abuses, ranging from torture and arbitrary detention to sexual violence against vulnerable citizens.

These damning revelations under Tinubu’s regime were contained in the U.S. Department of State’s 2024 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, which highlighted serious violations allegedly committed by police, the military, and the Department of State Services (DSS).

According to the report, members of security forces engaged in “torture during detention,” while some officers were accused of sexually exploiting internally displaced persons, including children, in camps around Maiduguri, Borno State. It further noted that “impunity for torture was a significant problem in the security forces, especially in the police, military, and the DSS units.”

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Although Nigeria has laws prohibiting torture and degrading treatment, the U.S. pointed out that enforcement remains weak. The law criminalises torture but provides no penalties for offenders, and it applies only within the Federal Capital Territory unless individual states adopt similar provisions. By the end of 2024, only 30 out of 36 states had enacted such legislation.

 

One of the cases highlighted in the report was the detention of Segun Olatunji, a journalist and former editor of FirstNews Online. He was arrested on March 15 by the Defence Intelligence Agency and held for two weeks without access to lawyers or family. Upon release, Olatunji said he was tortured and threatened over his reporting on official corruption. “On March 15, the former editor of FirstNews Online, Segun Olatunji, was detained by the Defence Intelligence Agency. Olatunji regained his freedom after two weeks in detention, during which his whereabouts were unknown. He claimed the persons detaining him tortured him, interrogated him concerning his investigation into official corruption, threatened, and humiliated him,” the report stated.

The U.S. report also revealed that prison guards committed sexual violence against female inmates, while some security personnel allegedly assaulted and abused displaced persons. “Prison guards reportedly committed gender-based violence against women prisoners. Some security officers allegedly sexually abused and exploited IDPs, including children, in and around Maiduguri,” it added.

The document further cited persistent cases of arbitrary killings by security operatives despite constitutional guarantees against such abuses. “There were reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings,” it noted.

 

Another area of concern was the continued prevalence of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). While federal law prohibits the practice and 22 states have outlawed it, enforcement was described as weak, with one in four women and girls still subjected to it.

Despite repeated government claims that abusive officers are investigated and punished, the U.S. stressed that the outcomes of such probes are rarely made public, thereby reinforcing impunity.