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FOREWORD

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), pursuant to section 6 (d) of the National Human Rights Common Act 1995 as amended is obligated to visit persons, police cells and other places of detention in order to ascertain the conditions thereof and make recommendations to appropriate authorities. In this regard the 2020 Report of the Audit of Police Detention Centres in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is meant to assess the level of respect for the fundamental human rights of persons in detention facilities of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in the FCT.

This exercise is further necessitated by the fact that Nigeria is a party to all major international and regional human rights instruments including but not limited to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention against Torture, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR). Furthermore, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as (amended) and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules on Treatment of Prisoners set bench marks for the treatment of suspects and persons in detention.

1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

President Muhammadu Buhari in his nationwide broadcast on 27th April 2020, announced a gradual, phased and partial lifting of Lockdown beginning from 4th May, 2020. This report therefore documents the various incidents of human rights violations allegedly perpetrated by security agencies and other actors after the partial lifting of lockdown commencing from 4th to 21st May, 2020.".

The report also documents the various thematic areas in which the violations occurred, the nature of the violations, the disaggregated data on state reported violations, the agencies of Government responsible for the violations as well as the response/action taken to remedy the violations.”.

1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1 Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Governments across the globe embarked on measures to safeguard the lives and health of their citizens. Some of the measures adopted were to lockdown areas or states with prevalence of Covid-19 transmissions, shut down borders, close down schools, cancel or postpone sporting activities, travels, etc. to avoid community or social spread of the virus.

1.2 In Nigeria, the Federal and State Governments took proactive steps by declaring the Covid-19 virus as an infectious disease and issued Regulations in line with the Quarantine and Public Health Act and Laws in order to safeguard lives and public health. By the Regulations, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR imposed a mandatory lockdown of FCT, Abuja, Lagos and Ogun States and ordered citizens to stay at home for an initial period of 14 days to enable the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to trace, contact, test, isolate and treat persons who may have been exposed or contracted the virus. These measures were also replicated by some State Governors in their respective states.

The Strategic Plan of the NHRC 2019-2022 seeks to strengthen the operations of the Commission in line with its expanded mandate enshrined in the National Human Rights Commission (Amendment) Act 2010 as the foremost national institution for the promotion and protection of all human rights guaranteed by the Constitution, other national laws, regional and international legal instruments on human rights".

The report of the Rapid Institutional Assessment (RIA) carried out by the Bureau for Public Service Reforms in 2017identified some of the challenges that have hindered the Commission from effectively carrying out its functions and made robust recommendations to address the challenges. This coincided with the appointment of a new Executive Secretary with a vision and drive to reposition the Commission. Accordingly, the current administration accepted to implement the recommendations of the RIA Report among which is the development of a Strategic Plan”.