Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/humanrts/nigeria.txu

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TITLE:  NIGERIA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995



Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

There is a large and vibrant press, which is frequently
critical of the Government.  Nonetheless, the Government
directly owns or controls many newspapers and has shut down
several others.  The Government granted broadcasting rights to
private radio stations for the first time in 1994.
Constitutional provisions providing for freedom of speech and
the press are not enforceable since no constitution is in
effect.  The Abacha regime often publicly declared its support
for these freedoms; however, the Government attempted to
confine public political dialog to the constitutional
conference.  The regime also increased its systematic
intimidation of the press through legal and extralegal means
throughout 1994.

The regime used a variety of methods to muzzle its many
critics.  In January it seized the entire print run of the
weekly newsmagazine Tell, and soon after indicted the editor in
chief of Razor magazine for sedition and three Newswatch
magazine executives on other spurious charges.  During the week
building up to the anniversary of the June 12 election, the
Government detained and otherwise harassed dozens of
journalists, along with prodemocracy activists.  Security
forces on June 11 occupied the offices of M.K.O. Abiola's
Concord group newspaper Punch, charging that the buildings were
used to store weapons.  On August 14, security forces occupied
the offices of the Guardian, Nigeria's most respected daily
newspaper, disrupting its production.

Following a number of court decisions favoring the press over
the summer, in August the Government issued a series of decrees
proscribing for 6 months three newspaper publishing houses.
These new decrees granted the Abacha regime and its agents
legal immunity from challenges to any actions taken to
implement the decrees, even when the action predated the decree
itself.  In December the Government extended the decrees
indefinitely.

The Government also summarily deported foreign journalists,
including two correspondents of Cable News Network.

The military Government used a number of other means to
intimidate the press.  These included a regulation banning
government offices from advertising in nongovernment media,
periodic directives to government offices forbidding the
purchase of certain publications, personal attacks in
government-controlled media against journalists and others who
challenged government policies, and threats of harassment
against potential advertisers and financial backers of
antigovernment newspapers and magazines.

While academic freedom is generally respected, the military
Government closed universities sporadically due to continued
social unrest and strikes by the Academic Staff Union of
Universities and other university unions calling for
implementation of the June 12, 1993, elections, a return to
civilian democracy, and improved funding for the university
system.  Some student groups believe university authorities
follow government directives to suspend or expel activist
students.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The two Constitutions provide citizens the right to assemble
freely and associate with other persons in political parties,
trade unions, or other special interest associations.  However,
the Government proscribed all political activity one day after
coming into power in 1993.  On August 17, General Abacha
announced that "individuals or groups may henceforth canvass
political ideas, but they cannot form political parties for
now."

Permits are not normally required for public meetings indoors,
and permit requirements for outdoor public functions are often
ignored.  However, the Abacha Government retained the authority
of Decree Five of the Babangida government, which banned
gatherings whose political, ethnic, or religious overtones
might lead to unrest.  Open-air religious services away from
places of worship remain prohibited in most states due to
religious tensions in various parts of the country.

Religious, professional, and other organizations need not
register with the Government and are generally permitted free
association with other national and foreign bodies.  The PRC
retained a ban on several political organizations which it
contended were founded primarily along ethnic, tribal,
religious, or other parochial lines for the purpose of
sponsoring various political candidates.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

Decree One (suspending most of the 1979 Constitution) and the
suspended 1989 Constitution prohibit federal and state
governments from adopting an official state religion.  The PRC
reaffirmed the secular nature of the State in its instructions
to the constitutional conference.  The 1979 and 1989
constitutional provisions for freedom of belief, practice, and
education in regard to religion are generally respected.  The
Government instituted a ban in 1987 (which is still in effect)
on religious organizations on campuses of primary schools,
though individual students retain the right to practice their
religion in recognized places of worship.

Distribution of religious publications is generally
unrestricted.  There is a lightly enforced ban on published
religious advertisements, and religious programing on
television and radio remains closely controlled by the
Government.  Both Christian and Muslim organizations allege
that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Immigration
Department continue to restrict the entry into the country of
certain religious practitioners, particularly persons suspected
of proselytizing.  While it has not officially outlawed the
practice, the Government discourages proselytizing in the
belief that it stirs up religious tensions, particularly in the
north.

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

The two Constitutions entitle citizens to move freely
throughout the country and reside where they wish.  However,
increasing violent crime in many parts of the country prompted
police to set up roadblocks and checkpoints, where officials
commonly engaged in extortion, violence, and excessive use of
force.

Those Constitutions also prohibit expulsion or the denial of
exit or entry to any Nigerian citizen.  However, women must
often provide permission from a male family member before they
are granted a passport, and the Government, like its
predecessors, occasionally prevented travel for political
reasons.

For example, in July the Government seized the passport of an
opposition leader, Chief Sobo Sowem Imo, as he attempted to
exit the country through the Lagos airport.  In September the
Government confiscated the national passport of noted social
critic and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, who, a few days before,
had filed a suit against the Abacha regime challenging its
legal right to rule.  In October immigration authorities again
prevented Soyinka from leaving the country, seizing the U.N.
laissez-passer issued to him as a UNESCO goodwill ambassador.
Soyinka subsequently left the country clandestinely.  In
November the Government seized Bar Association President
Priscilla Kuye's passport, preventing her from traveling after
she had already boarded an international flight.

Journalists reported harassment at the nation's airports by
security officials throughout the year, including having to
fill out a special exit and entry form detailing their
movements abroad, reasons for making their trip, and friends
and associates overseas.  Security officials temporarily
confiscated the passports of journalists who refused to
complete the form.

Nigerian law and practice permit temporary refuge and asylum
for political refugees from other countries.  The Government
cooperates with the Lagos office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in dealing with  an estimated
3,000 Liberian and an undetermined number of Chadian refugees.
There were no reported cases of forced repatriation of refugees
in 1994.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

Citizens could not exercise this right in 1994, and there was
little indication that General Abacha's military regime was
willing to permit them to do so on any basis other than a
process tightly controlled by the regime.  Throughout the year,
the regime committed numerous, repeated, and egregious human
rights abuses in its effort to prevent citizens from opposing
it by peaceful political means.

After coming to power, the Provisional Ruling Council headed by
General Abacha promised a return to civilian, democratic rule
but did not provide a timetable.  The regime instead announced
the convening of a constitutional conference to prepare a
transition program.  Citizens were not to be given the
opportunity peacefully to change their government at any level
until the constitutional convention completed its work.  As
protests against the regime mounted in May and June, the
Government arrested a number of ex-politicians who attempted to
reconvene disbanded democratic institutions.  Those arrested
included Chief M.K.O. Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the
aborted June 12, 1993, election, who declared himself President
on June 11.

In July the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers
called a strike demanding that General Abacha release Abiola
and hand over power to a civilian government.  Other unions
joined NUPENG, and the ensuing strikes brought life in Lagos
and much of the southwest to a standstill for almost 8 weeks,
while rioting and civil disobedience erupted throughout the
country, particularly in the southwest.  By September the
regime cracked down on its opponents, and most elements of
resistance dissolved.  As noted, it committed numerous,
repeated, and egregious human rights abuses in its effort to
prevent citizens from opposing it by peaceful political means.

At the end of the year, the regime continued to consolidate its
hold on power, although General Abacha indicated that he might
lift the ban on political activity early in the new year.  He
also repeated his commitment to "respect the decision of the
constitutional conference" regarding a transition to civilian
rule, but stated that the Government "reserved the right" to
review any decision made by the conference.  His promises
encouraged many members of the so-called political class to
form associations and quasi-political parties in anticipation
of another transition program.  However, most Nigerians,
preoccupied by increasing economic hardship and ethnic
polarization, and weary of repeated military promises of
democratic rule, remained politically impassive.

Nigerian politics remain dominated by men.  However, there are
no legal impediments to political participation or voting by
women or any other minority group.  One woman served in the
91-member Senate, and 6 women served in the 589-member House of
Representatives.  There is one woman in the PRC's Federal
Executive Council.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

The Government permitted local human rights groups to operate
but often interfered with their activities, detaining their
members and preventing them from criticizing the Government's
human rights record (see Sections 1.d. and 2.a.).  High-level
government officials regularly denounced the activities of
Nigeria's human rights community, often accusing its members
and the independent press of participating in foreign-inspired
plots to destabilize the country.

Notwithstandng the Government's hostile attitude, human rights
groups remained engaged in a vocal and public campaign for the
promotion of human rights.  Among the most active are:  The
Civil Liberties Organization; the Committee for the Defense of
Human Rights; the Campaign for Democracy; the Constitutional
Rights Project; the National Association of Democratic Lawyers;
Human Rights Africa; the Legal Research and Resource
Development Center; the National Association of University
Women; the International Federation of Women Lawyers; and the
Human Rights Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association.  A
number of prominent authors, including Nobel Laureate Wole
Soyinka, artists, educators, and jurists, in addition to
professional and labor organizations, spoke out frequently on
human rights issues as well.

The Government sometimes prevented foreign human rights
monitoring groups and individuals from visiting Nigeria or
mistreated them while they were there.  For example, in April
the Government refused visa requests by representatives of the
Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, invited by
Shell Oil and MOSOP to investigate the situation in Ogoniland.
In June security agents beat and detained for 4 days Nick
Ashton-Jones, a representative of the British environmental
awareness group Pronatura, and two Nigerian human rights
activists, Oronto Douglas and Uche Onyeagocham, reportedly for
meeting with detained MOSOP secretary Leedum Mitee in Port
Harcourt.  The Government admitted Amnesty International
representatives to the country in December but denied them
access to detainees.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

Both the 1979 and 1989 Constitutions provide citizens the right
to freedom from discrimination based on "community, place of
orgin, ethnic group, sex, religion, or political opinion."
However, customary and religious discrimination against women
persists, while tension between the Government and disaffected
minority ethnic groups is on the rise.

     Women

There are no laws barring women from particular fields of
employment, but women often experience discrimination because
the Government tolerates customary and religious practices
which adversely affect them.  While the number of women in the
formal sector increases every year, women do not receive equal
pay for equal work and often find it extremely difficult to
acquire commercial credit or obtain tax deductions or rebates
as the heads of households.  While some women have made
considerable individual progress, both in the academic and
business world, most are underprivileged.  Though women are not
legally barred from owning land, under customary land tenure
systems in some parts of Nigeria only men own land, and women
gain access to it through marriage or family.  In addition,
many customary practices do not recognize a woman's right to
inherit her husband's property, and many widows are rendered
destitute when their in-laws take virtually all of the deceased
husband's property.  In other areas, the widow herself is
considered part of the property, and she too may be "inherited"
by the husband's eldest male relative.  Polygyny is widely
practiced among all ethnic groups in both Christian and Islamic
communities.

Reports of wife abuse are common, especially wife beating in
polygynous families.  Police do not normally intervene in
domestic disputes, and they are seldom discussed publicly.  In
more traditional areas, it is questionable whether the courts
and police actively intervene to protect women who formally
accuse their husbands if the level of alleged abuse does not
exceed customary norms in the area.  Purdah, the Islamic
practice of keeping girls and women in seclusion from men
outside the family, is prevalent in parts of Nigeria's far
north.  Women also bear the brunt of attacks for social and
religious reasons, particularly for "immodest" or
"inappropriate" behavior.

     Children

The Government only occasionally condemns child abuse and
neglect and makes little effort to stop customary practices,
such as the sale of children into marriage.  It remains only
sporadically committed to children's welfare.  While the amount
of money spent on children's health projects has increased in
recent years, laws designed to protect the rights of children
are often obsolete, inadequate, and seldom enforced.  Although
the law stipulates that "no child shall be ordered to be
imprisoned," juvenile offenders are routinely denied bail and
incarcerated along with hardened criminals.

There are credible reports that poor families often sell their
daughters into marriage as a means of supplementing their
incomes.  There are also reports that many young girls are
forced into marriage as soon as they reach puberty, regardless
of age, to prevent "indecency" associated with premarital sex.

The Government publicly opposes female genital mutilation
(FGM), and Nigeria cosponsored a resolution at the 46th World
Health Assembly calling for the elimination of harmful health
practices, including FGM.  However, it has taken no action to
abolish the procedure, and nearly all ethnic groups subject
young females to it.  Nigerian experts estimate that as many as
50 percent of Nigerian women, primarily in the Christian south
but less in the Muslim north, have undergone FGM, which varies
from simple removal of the clitoral hood or labia minora to
excision of the clitoris and the most painful and harmful form,
infibulation.

The age at which females are subjected to FGM varies from the
first week of life to after a woman delivers her first child.
The federal Ministry of Health and NGO's sponsor public
awareness and education projects to inform communities of the
health hazards associated with FGM, and the press openly
condemned the practice on a number of occasions.

     National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

There is no official policy of discrimination against any of
Nigeria's 250 ethnic groups, and laws do not favor one group
over another.  However, Nigeria has a long history of tension
among its diverse ethnic groups.  Clashes continued between
rival ethnic groups in Delta, Rivers, Benue, Cross River, and
Taraba states, often resulting in bloodshed.  Tradition
continues to impose considerable pressure on individual
government officials to favor their own ethnic group, and
ethnic favoritism persists.  The Ogoni, an ethnic group
indigenous to Rivers state in eastern Nigeria (Nigeria's
oil-producing region), maintain that the Government continues
to engage in a systematic campaign to deprive them of their
land and its wealth.

The Ogonis claim that the Government seizes Ogoni property
without fair compensation, ignores the environmental impact of
oil production on Ogoni land, and fails to provide adequate
social services, such as water and electricity.  MOSOP, which
campaigns for greater Ogoni autonomy, often describes
government policy towards the Ogoni as genocide.  The
confrontation between the Government and the Ogoni has
increasingly turned violent (see Section 1.a.), and Ogoni
concerns about environmental degradation and the quality of
social services in the oil-producing region have some merit.
Despite this, accusations that the Government is engaged in a
genocidal campaign against the Ogoni are unfounded.

Other ethnic minorities, particularly in Delta, Rivers, and
Akwa Ibom states, have echoed Ogoni claims of environmental
degradation and government indifference to their development.
Groups such as the Ijaw, Itsekiri, and Urhobo have grown
increasingly vocal in expressing their unhappiness, while the
prevalence of ethnic conflict and confrontation with government
forces increased in these areas.

     Religious Minorities

Nigerian law prohibits religious discrimination.  Nonetheless,
it is commonly reported that government officials often
discriminate against persons practicing a religion different
from their own.  Religious tensions often lead to violence, as
in April when clashes between Muslims and Christians in the
northern city of Jos resulted in hundreds of deaths and the
partial destruction of the city's main market.  A predominantly
Christian city in a Muslim-dominated part of the country, Jos
had long been championed as an example of Nigerian religious
tolerance.  Residents in an overwhelmingly Christian part of
the city rioted when the military administrator of Plateau
state (a Muslim from Kano) chose a Muslim rather than a
Christian for the position of local government administrator.
In September Muslims attacked and killed some Christian
residents of the northern town of Potiskum, capital of Yobe
state.  In response, the Christian Association of Nigeria
issued a strong statement condemning the killings and alleging
official indifference to the incident.

     People with Disabilities

While the Government called for private businesses to institute
policies ensuring fair treatment to the 2 percent of the work
force that it claims is disabled, it has not enacted any laws,
including on accessibility to buildings and public
transportation, nor formulated any policy which specifically
ensures the right of the disabled to work.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

The Abacha Government has left basic labor legislation in
place, essentially the 1974 Labor Decree.  However, there are
no constitutional safeguards preventing the Government from
interfering in the administration of labor unions, and the
Government added new decrees further restricting worker
rights.  Nigeria has signed and ratified the International
Labor Organization's (ILO) Convention on Freedom of
Association.  On November 3 and 4, the ILO Committee on Freedom
of Association heard a complaint by the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the World Confederation of
Labor, and the Organization of African Trade Union Unity
against the Nigerian Government's labor policy.  The ILO ruled
that the Government's interference in the administration of
labor unions and its restriction of worker rights is in direct
contravention of ratified conventions.  The Committee
recommended that the Government remove appointed administrators
from labor bodies, restore suspended union executives and allow
them access to the premises of union headquarters, and restore
dues check-off.  At year's end the Government had not responded.

Workers, except members of the armed forces and employees
designated essential by the Government, may join trade unions.
Essential employees include firefighters, police, employees of
the central bank, the security printers (printers of currency,
passports, and government forms), and customs and excise
staff.  In May 1993, the Government promulgated the Teaching
Essential Services Decree, declaring education an essential
service.  The Decree did not, however, proscribe education
sector unions.  The National Labour Congress (NLC), Nigeria's
umbrella labor federation, has repeatedly called on the
Government to reinstate unions in all sectors of the economy
except for the armed forces, firefighters, and the police.

The vast majority (approximately 72 percent) of the work force
is employed in agriculture.  Agricultural workers are not
unionized.  Most of the informal sector and practically all
small industries and businesses remain nonunionized.
Approximately 11.5 percent of the total work force belong to
unions.

In contravention of the ILO Convention on Freedom of
Association, the Government has decreed a single central labor
body, the NLC, and deregistered other unions.  Government
interference makes it difficult for the NLC to represent
Nigerian workers effectively.  The NLC claims 3 million members
out of a total work force of 30 million, but this figure is
difficult to verify.  The Government continued to resist
attempts by senior government staff to form and register as an
independent labor association the Senior Staff Consultative
Association of Nigeria (SESCAN).

The right to strike is recognized by law, except in the case of
essential services.  There are no laws prohibiting retribution
against strikers and strike leaders, but strikers who feel they
are facing unfair retribution may submit their cases to the
Industrial Arbitration Panel, whose decisions are binding on
all parties.

In 1994 the labor movement engaged in large-scale strike
action, including two general strikes, in support of K.O.
Abiola and the prodemocracy movement.  In response, the
Government enacted decrees dismissing the executives of the
NLC, PENGASSAN, and NUPENG and prohibiting legal challenges by
offended unions to these decrees.  The courts subsequently
cited the latter in dismissing an NLC legal suit asking the
courts to declare these decrees null and void.

The crippling strike by petroleum workers began on July 4 and
officially ended on August 17, when the Government dismissed
the petroleum unions' executives.  In the strike's aftermath,
the Government continued to detain petroleum union leaders,
including NUPENG General Secretary Frank Kokori and a number of
other ranking labor leaders.  By September, petroleum workers,
frustrated by a lack of support from other Nigerians, returned
to their jobs.

Under the labor laws, any nonagricultural enterprise which
employs more than 50 employees is obliged to recognize trade
unions and must pay or deduct a dues checkoff for employees who
are members.  The NLC has complained that some employers
deliberately organize their industries into multiple units
employing less than 50 workers to avoid unionization.  The
Government threatened to withdraw the dues checkoff provision
and make the payment of union dues completely voluntary if
unions pursue strikes.  This was the case in August 1993 when
the NLC called a general strike and again in September 1994 at
the conclusion of the petroleum strike.

In August 1991, the Government's Decree 32 amended a policy in
effect since 1975 that permitted international labor
affiliation only with the Organization of African Trade Union
Unity and affiliated pan-African labor federations.  Decree 32
allowed affiliation with non-African international labor
organizations, but only for training and educational
assistance.  Since Decree 32, the NLC and SESCAN opened
negotiations with the International Confederation of Free Trade
Unions seeking formal affiliation.  The removal of the NLC
executive and the protracted political confrontation have
precluded further progress on these applications.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The labor laws provide for both the right to organize and the
right to bargain collectively between management and trade
unions.  Collective bargaining is, in fact, common in many
sectors of the economy.  Laws further protect workers against
retaliation by employers for labor activity through an
independent arm of the judiciary, the National Industrial
Court, which handles complaints of antiunion discrimination.
The NLC has complained, however, that the judicial system is
often slow to handle labor cases and that this constitutes a
denial of redress to those with legitimate complaints.

There have been no significant reforms in labor practice since
January 1991, when the Government abolished the uniform wage
structure for all government entities.  This allowed each tier
of government--federal, state, local, and state-owned
firms--freedom to negotiate its own level of wages, benefits,
and conditions of employment.  As a result, negotiations
previously conducted on a nationwide basis under the direct
supervision of the Labor Ministry, are now conducted on a
local, often plantwide, basis with less government involvement.

At year's end, there were no functioning export processing
zones.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The 1974 Labor Decree and the 1989 Constitution prohibit forced
or compulsory labor.  While this prohibition is generally
observed in practice, the Lagos Task Force soldiers used forced
labor to clean up community streets (see Section 1.c.).  The
ILO, noting that with the 1989 Constitution suspended Nigeria
may not be able to enforce the ILO Convention against Forced
Labor in the absence of constitutional guarantees, pressed the
Government for its views on this point, but at year's end the
Government had not replied.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

The 1974 Labor Decree prohibits employment of children under
15 years of age in commerce and industry and restricts other
child labor to home-based agricultural or domestic work.  The
law further stipulates that children may not be employed in
agricultural or domestic work for more than 8 hours per day.
The Decree allows the apprenticeship of youths aged 13 to 15
under specific conditions.  The Government does not
specifically regulate service of apprentices over the age of 15.