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RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHOS #0337/01 1341256
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141256Z MAY 07
FM AMCONSUL LAGOS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8885
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 8699
RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW 0346
RUEHCD/AMCONSUL CIUDAD JUAREZ 0326
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0325
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 0318
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 LAGOS 000337 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/W 
STATE FOR INR/AA 
DOE FOR CAROLYN GAY 
WARSAW FOR LISA PIASCIK 
CIUDAD JUAREZ FOR DONNA BLAIR 
ISTANBUL FOR TASHAWNA SMITH 
SAO PAOLO FOR ANDREW WITHERSPOON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ELAB KIRF NI
SUBJECT: SOUTHERN NIGERIA HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE THROUGH MARCH 
2007 
 
REF: 06 ABUJA 2791 
 
LAGOS 00000337  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶1.  This is a roundup of recent incidents representative of 
the human rights situation in southern Nigeria.  This summary 
is organized according to the sections of the annual Human 
Right Report.  These incidents have not been reported in 
other cables. 
 
--------------------------- 
Section 1 - Respect for the 
Integrity of the Person 
--------------------------- 
 
a.  Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life 
 
¶2.  One person was killed and twenty others injured when 
violence erupted on January 30 at the Oshogbo Local 
Government Office, Osun State.  The violence occurred when 
some council members invited the local government council 
(LGC) chairman to a meeting to explain the expenditure of 
those funds accruing to the local council from the federal 
accounts.  Police detained LGC Chairman Liadi Gbadamosi and 
declared fifteen councilors wanted.  The investigation is 
ongoing. 
 
¶3. In November 2006, Ishola Babalola, was killed by an 
accidental discharge from the rifle of a mobile policemen at 
a check-point at Ilara-Mokin, near Akure, Ondo State. 
 
¶4.  Police investigation into the July 2006 murder of Lagos 
politician Funsho Williams is ongoing.  Although several 
subjects are in detention, none have been formally charged 
with the crime. 
 
¶5.  The police investigation into the August 2006 murder of 
Ekiti gubernatorial candidate Ayo Daramola is ongoing. 
 
¶6.  In March, Polspec attended the 2nd Awards and Graduation 
Ceremony for human rights ombudsmen in the Lagos Police 
Force.  The ceremony is the culmination of a three-month 
training of police officers in the basics of human rights, 
conducted by the Crime Victims' Foundation, a nongovernmental 
organization. 
 
b.  Disappearance 
 
¶7.  On January 24, gunmen abducted the Anambra State 
Commissioner for Works and her son.  The incident occurred 
when the Commissioner was inspecting government projects in 
the Degema Local Council Area.  The Commissioner and her son 
were later released.  On January 31, Pius Ogbuawa, an Anambra 
businessman was kidnapped while returning home from the 
church.  A police spokesperson alleged the kidnappings were 
the handiwork of the Movement for the Actualization of the 
Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), and were under ongoing 
investigation. 
 
c.  Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment 
or Punishment 
 
¶8.  Torture remained prevalent.  One human rights group 
reported forms of torture include the tying of arms and legs 
behind the body, suspension of the body while tying a 
person's hands or legs to fixtures in the ceiling, severe 
beatings, spraying of tear gas, shooting in the foot or leg, 
and applying pliers or electric shock to the most sensitive 
areas of the body.  Several suspects have died as a result of 
injuries received through torture. 
 
¶9. In March, the United Nations (UN) reported Nigeria had one 
of the worst records of torture and detainment of prisoners 
in the world.  The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other 
Cruel and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 
Manfred Nowak, described the use of torture as a common 
practice by Nigerian police to extract confessions or obtain 
 
LAGOS 00000337  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
information.  Nowak commented that of all the prisons and 
detention centers his team visited, Port Harcourt was the 
most egregious offender with regard to living conditions.  It 
was intended to hold 800 detainees but actually held 2,420. 
Of this number, 2,217 were awaiting trial or were being held 
without charge.  Nowak also decried the rampant corruption in 
the police force, which operates with a large degree of 
impunity.  In September 2006, an earlier UN report condemned 
Nigeria's overcrowded prisons and called for reform. 
 
¶10. In December 2006, the Constitutional Rights Project 
secured the release of 30 inmates from Lagos prisons who had 
been held from 4 to 11 years without trial. 
 
¶11. In September 2006, Inspector General of Police Sunday 
Ehindero banned the sale of police uniforms in the Niger 
Delta for fear militants in the region would impersonate 
police.  The media reported that when a woman in Akwa Ibom 
was arrested for impersonating a policewoman, she claimed she 
purchased the uniform from the police barracks. 
 
f.  Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence 
 
¶12. In September 2006, the Committee for the Defence of Human 
Rights (CDHR) in Delta State declared the police illegally 
destroyed houses and property in Afiesere, Delta State.  CDHR 
said the police destroyed 40 houses and 15 vehicles in all. 
The police claimed they were investigating the killing of a 
police officer and an inspector of police by youths from 
Afiesere. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Section 2 - Respect for Civil Liberties 
--------------------------------------- 
 
a.  Freedom of Speech and Press 
 
¶13. Ebonyi Voice.  Two journalists, both former government 
officials including Imo Eze, the former Press Secretary to 
the Governor, were jailed for slanderous allegations but were 
subsequently released.  A contact told Poloff some of the 
allegations were true and others were not, but the Governor 
was especially angered that the journalists wrote on the 
paternity of the child of the Governor's daughter. 
 
¶14. Two journalists, Debo Adeosun and Sanjo Akinbi of the 
Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State, were beaten in Ibadan 
by men of the state security outfit, "Operation Gbale". 
Three television journalists with Galaxy Television were 
assaulted in Ibadan by security operatives.  These 
journalists were accosted while reporting on the fuel 
scarcity in the city. 
 
¶15. In December 2006, agents of the Economic and Financial 
Crimes Commission (EFCC) raided the office of Cosmo FM, based 
in Enugu.  The EFCC claimed to be raiding the office in 
connection with corruption charges against the Governor, 
Chimaroke Nnamani, who the EFCC claims is the owner of the 
station.  However, the Managing Director of Cosmo FM charged 
the EFCC launched the raid without a warrant. 
 
b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association 
 
¶16. In December 2006, agents with the State Security Service 
(SSS) raided the Lagos offices of the Civil Liberties 
Organization (CLO) and the United Action for Democracy (UAD), 
both vocal critics of the government. 
 
d.  Freedom of Movement within the Country, Foreign Travel, 
Emigration, and Repatriation 
 
¶17. In March, the Petroleum Tanker Drivers wing of the 
National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), 
Port Harcourt Zone, decried its treatment by the Nigerian 
 
LAGOS 00000337  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
Police.  In a statement, the union alleged harassment, 
extortion, and physical attacks by the police and other 
security agencies.  NUPENG charged that while the police 
extort from tankers claiming the tankers are transporting 
vandalized fuel, often the police themselves participate in 
the vandalizing. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Section 3 - Respect for Political Rights: 
Citizens' Right to Change Their Government 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶18. On January 31, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report 
titled "Chop Fine: The Human Rights Impact of Local 
Government Corruption and Mismanagement in Rivers State, 
Nigeria".  In the report, HRW charged that despite a 
quadrupling in budget since 1999, corruption and 
mismanagement in Nigeria's wealthiest state prevented it from 
providing basic health and education services.  HRW called on 
government at all levels to enact reforms to make state and 
local governments more transparent and accountable.  HRW also 
called on the Rivers State government to publish detailed and 
accurate information about its public expenditures. 
 
¶19. Please see reftel and election cables for information 
about the Nigerian elections. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Section 4 - Government Attitude Regarding 
International and Nongovernmental Investigation 
Of Alleged Human Rights Violations 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶20. During his visit to Nigeria in March, UN Special 
Rapporteur on Torture Nowak singled out the SSS, which he 
said denied his office access to their detention facilities 
on three occasions.  Nowak commented this action "constituted 
a serious breach of the terms of reference agreed upon by the 
government." 
 
------------------------------------ 
Section 5 - Discrimination, Societal 
Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶21. In November 2006, Amnesty International released a report 
titled "Nigeria: Rape-the Silent Weapon".  The Amnesty report 
characterized rape as an endemic problem largely ignored by 
the police and legal authorities.  The report also alleged 
Nigerian security forces committed rape, particularly in the 
Niger Delta, as a tactic to "coerce and intimidate entire 
communities".  Amnesty reported widespread rape occurred in 
the Niger Delta regions of Ogoniland, Odi, Odioma, and 
Ugbrodo, and although a report was presented to the Federal 
Government in May 2002, no members of the security forces had 
been charged.  The report also charged a "near total failure 
of the Nigerian state to protect women and girls from these 
terrible crimes."  Amnesty criticized the Nigerian government 
for its failure to keep official statistics on rape and other 
violence against women. 
 
¶22. On Women's Day in March, the nongovernmental organization 
Ajegunle Community Project, based in Lagos, declared Nigerian 
women still face various forms of gender-based discriminatory 
practices at home and the workplace.  As an example, the 
spokesperson estimated that "about 60 percent of women in 
Nigeria have undergone female genital mutilation at some 
stage of their lives".  These practices amounted to a 
campaign of violence against women, the group said. 
 
------- 
Comment 
-------- 
 
¶23. While the excesses committed during the military era have 
 
LAGOS 00000337  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
declined radically, the Obasanjo administration has not 
advanced the cause of human rights as much as might have been 
possible.  What priority the incoming administration will 
place on human rights issues is uncertain.  However, being a 
"purely civilian" administration may allow it to be more 
forward-looking.  Nongovernmental organizations, such as the 
Crime Victims' Foundation, have been working with law 
enforcement officials to improve their human rights 
awareness, but to progress further they will need assistance 
from the courts and the federal government.  A deep-rooted 
attitude within Nigerian law enforcement agencies condones 
torture and other excesses to achieve their ends.  The slow 
workings of the Nigerian court system often translate to 
justice denied.  Improvement on human rights will depend on 
the political will of the new administration to tackle these 
more prosaic yet common abuses such as police misconduct and 
judicial lassitude.  End comment. 
 
BROWNE