Nigeria Must Respect Human Rights – PLAC

The Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) has called on the Nigerian government to respect human rights and the rule of law in order to preserve democracy.

PLAC stated this in its 2023 human rights report released yesterday.

The report issued by the executive director of PLAC, Clement Nwankwo, said practices that impinge on personal freedoms need to be expunged.

“For years, police abuse of human rights has remained a challenge in the country. The government will need to implement Police reform in order to bring the Police and other security agencies into conformity with international and national laws and best practices that emphasise respect for human rights.

“There is also an urgent need for the government to respond to the worsening insecurity in the country and improve the nation’s security environment. Special reforms need to be introduced to strengthen the ability of security forces to fulfil their responsibility of securing citizens and the nation. It will also be important to hold security officials to account for abuse of human rights and of their positions.

“Again, government institutions need to be made more accountable and responsible, obeying established laws that safeguard human rights and civic space. Provisions of the law, including the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), which impose undue burden on non-governmental organisations and affect their ability to operate freely, need to be reviewed,” PLAC said adding that there is also an important need to ensure that regulatory agencies supposedly responsible for the media in the country are reined in, away from their arrogant and arbitrary use of regulatory powers to infringe on the right to free press and of expression,” it said.