A policy advocacy and research think-tank, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), has raised the alarm that democracy was declining in Nigeria in the last 22 years with a continuous shrinking of civic space.
It also said that security agencies have cumulatively killed 13,241 Nigerians since 2011, noting that extrajudicial killings conducted by state actors have become the primary cause of death in the country.
This was contained in a report titled “Democracy Watch Reports”, unveiled by the think-tank in Abuja on Monday.
Recall that CDD was established to mobilise global opinion and resources for democratic development and provide an independent space to reflect critically on the challenges posed to the democratisation and development processes in West Africa, and also to provide alternatives and best practices to the sustenance of democracy and development in the region.
CDD Director, Idayat Hassan, while giving an overview of the report, expressed regret that unlawful killings have become commonplace in the country since 1999, adding that many of these killings were perpetrated by security forces and were unpunished.
According to her, “These unlawful killings go largely unpunished, thanks in part to Nigeria’s Force Order 237, which allows officers to use lethal force in ways that contravene international law, and because of government corruption and a prevailing culture of impunity.
“It is pertinent to state that extrajudicial killings conducted by state actors have become the primary cause of death in the country. In fact, state actors have cumulatively killed 13, 241 people since 2011”, she stated.
Hassan noted that over 70% of the prison population is made up of detainees awaiting trial, with over 20 percent awaiting trial for more than a year.
The CDD observed an emerging trend of security officers receiving orders from the elite in Nigeria to remand detainees for longer on spurious grounds.
Hassan added that governments have frequently invoked the pretext of ‘preventing terrorist actions’ to justify disrupting peaceful protests and social movements.
She stated that by doing so, the government has severely restricted Nigerians’ rights to assemble and demonstrate, in violation of relevant Constitutional provisions.
She added that the media has also faced censorship, harassment, arbitrary arrests, and even assassination attempts against journalists.
On the fight against corruption, Hassan said there have been some notable improvements in the last 22 years, particularly the setting up of anti-corruption institutions, adding that the number of prosecutions in the last couple of years has increased.
She, however, maintained that each administration has experienced challenges as the nation was yet to see a president who has wholly supported the fight against corruption particularly targeting members of his political party.
On his part, the Director of Africa and West Asia of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, (IDEA), Prof. Adebayo Olukoshi, who presented the keynote address at the event, expressed concerns that despite the best efforts of the election management body, Nigeria has continued to witness an assault on its electoral integrity, including a significant social and development deficits.
Olukoshi spoke on the theme: “The state of democracy in Nigeria over the past two decades”, which stressed the need for the country to redefine its process of democratisation.
