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The United States is considering withdrawing aid from Nigeria following an NHRC investigation.
Norah Tafuri ’25
Staff Writer
Content warning: This article mentions sexual violence and human trafficking.
On Feb. 7, 2023, the National Human Rights Commission launched an investigation into Nigeria’s counterinsurgency efforts. The NHRC was compelled, in part, by the investigative efforts of Reuters. In a Dec. 7, 2022, article, Reuters noted that the war in Nigeria has come with enormous consequences to women because of instances of them being abducted and condemned to sexual slavery by the militant organization Boko Haram. The Nigerian military continues to perpetuate this harm on the survivors of assault by forcing abortions on the women who might carry the unborn children of Boko Haram soldiers.
Their investigation revealed an “illegal abortion programme in the country’s northeast, [ended] at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and girls.” While the NHRC panel itself can offer no punitive measures, those who are deemed responsible can be recommended for prosecution. According to the Council of Foreign Relations, the insurgency of Boko Haram in Nigeria began in 2011. CFR explained that the group was created in Maiduguri in 2002 by Mohamed Yusof, an Islamic cleric from the Borno state. The group aims to “establish a fundamentalist Islamic state with sharia criminal courts” and is an offshoot of the Salafi movement, a branch of Sunni Islam.
The creation of Boko Haram is suspected to be due to deep social divides between the Muslim-majority north and a Christian-majority south, a discord resulting from British imperialism. Chris Ngwodo, a political writer, explains in his blog, Revolution by Other Means, that “Boko Haram is the consequence incarnate of misrule by delinquent political elites. It is a creature of state failure demonstrating the decline of our institutions in all its unvarnished ugliness.” He continued: “Without the skills necessary to access opportunities in the current socio-economic equation, the people are left with nothing but their religion as their sole resource and are thus vulnerable to all the monstrous mutations of faith that are liable to manifest in a climate of ignorance, corruption and economic inequality.”
In a 2002 publication of Human Rights Quarterly, writer Obiora Chinedu Okafor explained that the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission was created during the regime of General Sani Abacha. Okafor writes that an observer noted that “The [Nigerian] NHRC came amidst skepticism and cynicism that the Commission was a mere propaganda tool in the hands of a junta seeking international relevance.” Despite this initial fear, the NHRC has the potential to become a powerful institution in Nigeria, Okafor stated.
Okafor writes that the NHRC has the ability to “promote and protect human rights, receive and investigate complaints, monitor the human rights situation in the country, provide policy and other advice to the government, conduct research and studies, mount seminars and other events and assist victims of violations.” However, the committee falls short on certain essential tools needed to reinforce its authority. As assessed by Okafor, the committee cannot compel individuals to attend hearings, produce relevant documents, sue regular courts to enforce its decisions, render binding decisions or visit prisons at any time. In spite of this, Okafur maintains that the NHRC still remains a mechanism to bring a sense of justice to the victims who were harmed.
Furthermore, in recognition of these allegations, the United States Congress is considering halting the 1 billion dollar weapons deal that was arranged last April. Politics and International Relations Professor Andrew Reiter of Mount Holyoke College said that “military support for Nigeria has always been a challenge for the United States. [The U.S.] is aware of the Nigerian military’s human rights abuses and sometimes delays funding packages or puts conditions on them, such as requiring training in international humanitarian law,” he explained. “At the same time, the U.S. feels that it needs to continue to combat the rise of Islamist extremists in the region for its own national security and so will continue to provide some level of lethal aid, even if it has had a minimal effect so far,” he concluded.
In 2011, the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence Committee of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recommended an “increase [of] U.S. Government Support for Nigerian Counterterrorism and Intelligence Programs” in a committee report, saying, “the U.S. Government should increase its support for programs that enhance the ability of Nigerian security forces to more effectively target Boko Haram and counter its evolution.”