Human rights: Nigeria deteriorating, GBV rate alarming – Ezeilo

Professor Joy Ezeilo is a former United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Human Trafficking. She once served as the Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu campus.

Ezeilo, the Executive Director, Women Aid Collective, WACOL, in an exclusive interview with our DAILY POST reporter expresses concern about how difficult it has become to get justice in Nigeria, especially in the light of the aftermath of the decisions of the #ENDSARS Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Police Brutality. She also bares her thoughts on Gender Based Violence. Excerpts:

You recently expressed disappointment that justice has not been served due to non implementation of the decisions of the #ENDSARS Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Police Brutality

I do think that anyone who is very conscious about the respect for fundamental human rights, who is very keen on seeing rule of law entrenched (I am a lawyer and a law and order person, and all my life, I fought for the rights and I keep on fighting for the rights of people to be respected, especially vulnerable women and children) should know that fundamental human right is an intrinsic aspect of the rule of law. In a democracy you cannot but promote rule of law. So, when I look at the situation and citizens’ rights, it’s paramount.

In talking about that rule of law, when I look at our situation, like our democracy since 1999 – the inception of our transition from military to civilian rule – I think we are deteriorating. Under the military rule, it was understandable in that they suspended the fundamental human rights of the people, that is, the aspect of the constitution that contains that. We know that in a full blown democracy we practise, access to justice is crucial for having democratic culture. So, justice makes democracy possible, and without justice, democracy and even development is threatened.

Today, what do we see? The issue of inability of citizens, when their rights are violated or even threatened, to get justice, the worst is when it’s violated. Some of the cases we reviewed really demonstrated impunity and recklessness and excessiveness of police and other security sectors. It revealed huge abuse of power and also exploitation of people in a vulnerable position.

We also saw cases of outright recklessness because you don’t shoot in the air where you have a civilian population. We’re not fighting, we’re not in a war, you just start spraying bullets and then people who are going about their business are caught in that mayhem.

There was a case, I remember, where the man was even visiting a friend, and they were just in front of their premises when a stray bullet just shot and killed this man. I recall seeing several widows. One was pregnant when the husband was extrajudicially murdered, and she gave birth to twins that never knew their father. I saw women, men, and aged parents – all agonizing – who have not even overcome their trauma from the loss of their loved ones; some still even requesting for the body of their loved ones to be given to them to have a closure.

It’s difficult in this part of the world, in Nigeria, to get justice. There are so many unfulfilled or unmet justice needs of the people. We need to really promote and advance the fact that rule of law must be upheld in all circumstances.

In the case of the EndSARS, what the youths did was very peaceful even though you still get some cases where other elements hijacked it to cause destruction. But then you find genuine cases of people who were affected.

What were your other experiences in the panel?

For us in the panel I served, we looked beyond EndSARS to do a copious judicial enquiry into police brutality, and that was clearly established. Most of them even ignored calls to come and appear before the panel. Some others came and got representation by other lawyers. But the fact that even after recommendations were made available, we have not seen the type of change that we want to see – the type of culture that respects rights; the type of culture that you have to have evidence before you go and arrest people, or you don’t detain people without trial for prolonged period of time. Even in case of charge for terrorism, there are, of course, processes that will enable them to get extended detention if the court grants the order.

The protection and the equal protection here has to be emphasized because everybody is supposed to be entitled to their human rights and it doesn’t have to depend on your status in the society. And what we’ve seen is that it depends on your status for you to get justice. And for the poor and vulnerable, protection of the rights and possibilities of them getting justice quite slim.

If you look at some studies and surveys coming out, it shows that Nigeria ranks poorly with regard to rule of law. And their standing even within Africa is not also good.

For example, the 2024 global rule of law index, ranked Nigeria under 120 out of 142 countries that were assessed. Some of the indicators they used to assess are the issues around corruption, around checks on government, fundamental human rights of citizens and the fact that whether government is open and transparent. This has been going on for decades, it did not start today.

With regard to police brutality, we have also to be clear, it is not like it’s now worse under this government because successive governments have not been able to do the right thing. And that’s a big failure on the part of our democratic system, rule of law and justice system.

You can see that there’s a lot of legal challenges, people will go from pillar to post and they will give up. And if they give up unsatisfied, unhappy, can one just imagine what that does to the family? If some of these justice issues are not addressed, you will feel betrayed by your country. Definitely your relationship with every other person will also be affected, and even how loyal you are, and patriotism will also be affected.

So, we have to know that the ultimate goal of rule of law in any society is to produce justice. Whatever the situation, we need to continue to fight for the growing inequalities we see in Nigeria between the rich and the poor. Because it’s making that impossible for the poor to get Justice.

What’s the current situation of Gender Based Violence in Nigeria?

I think it’s getting worse in Nigeria. I tell you it has never really been diminished, it’s not declining at all. It is an epidemic when you talk about gender-based violence or violence against women and girls. Yes, the UN report that came out shows that every day, every 10 minutes a woman is killed by either relatives or a partner. This has to do with violence that is gender based.

So that’s really alarming. And I’m telling you even in Nigeria you will find that it is really an epidemic because I have been doing cases for the past 30 years. I’ve been in this place providing free legal aid to vulnerable women and children, doing pro bono work; taking on human rights cases; advancing human rights of women and children and in some cases for other poor people. But I focus a lot on women and children because, apart from being disproportionately affected in terms of litigation cost, in terms of fighting for their rights, they are more disadvantaged.

So, I can supply you the statistics – how many cases we get every year; I get thousands of cases every year. And then in a month you’re getting 100 and something to 200 cases. If you look at other statistics coming from other people and in other parts of Nigeria, you will see that it’s really sad. Some people recorded a huge number of cases.

And what type of violence are we talking about here?

We are talking about cases of rape, child abuse and sexual exploitation through cultural practices, forced marriages, denial of inheritance right, widowhood practices that are degrading and inhuman that amount to cruelty. We find the other forms of torture against female gender – issues around female circumcision, or female genital mutilation, acid attack from lovers, and even rape in the public space.

When you go to spousal battery in domestic violence, you find that it is hugely on the rise. Some people might start to make excuses but honestly there is no excuse or justification. We know there is hardship. We know that people are really extremely on the edge in the current Nigeria because of the economic downturn and growing poverty. People have lost their jobs. People’s take home pay can’t put, in terms of minimum wage, a bag of rice which cannot last a family of four even for one month. And you cannot eat only that; you have to pay your rent, you have to pay your utility, you have to send your children to school, you have to meet every other need.

Even given this state of affairs, does this now justify your battering and torturing your wife? Because of the economic crisis, there are a lot of emotional issues – people are going through a lot psychologically, physically and otherwise, and that has resulted in some mental issues.

But that does not justify in any way any violence or gender-based violence which will disproportionately affect women and girls.

And for children, even though the laws are actually clear with regards to the labour laws and NAPTIP rules, provisions and standards. But you find that there is so much abuse in that sector. And I get so worried. In Southern Nigeria, we have more child domestic help abuse than in Northern Nigeria. But of course there are other forms of abuse that go on in the North. So you find some particularities according to zones with regard to gender based violence. There is no zone at all that is free from all forms of gender-based violence. It’s prevalent and it’s committed everywhere in every nook and corner of Nigeria. The issue is who will talk about it. As some will never speak about their victimisation because of the stigma, because of the shame, because of blaming the victim that has become the culture in Nigeria.

What’s your view on corruption and official complicity in the fight against GBV?

There is corruption in the justice system, and here I mean in the administration of justice because it has different processes. You will start by making a complaint in the police station and from the police station they will do their investigation and hand it over to, depending, to the Ministry of Justice, the office of the Public Prosecution, Director of the DPP, and then it can be charged to the High Court. There are ones the police can handle. But if you don’t make a proper investigation, if you don’t arraign suspects, if you compromise any of that process, it’s not likely that the victim or complainant will get justice. You do see in some cases that these are not done.

In what ways do complainants face challenges in the police station?

The woman who comes to report rape will be asked to bring money for transport, will be asked to pay for a test to confirm that she was raped. Or even at that, not the price she can afford. She will also be asked to come today, come tomorrow. Will be the one frequenting the police station, mobilizing them to take action. It is really wrong. We must raise accountability and say no to this.

Corruption has an impact on enforcement of justice for people who are victims or survivors of gender based violence. Corruption is there. Unfortunately it’s one that has eaten deep into our society and the consequences are huge. It has affected effective implementation of fundamental human rights of those who are in search of justice.

What suggestions are available to prevent and tackle GBV?

We need to empower victims or survivors of GBV to be able to seek and get justice. If we continue to hide criminals – because for ten cases of rape, maybe only three will get reported, and there may never be a conviction. So it is really sad that people get away with this.

In some schools, you see teachers are abusing numerous people, and then there is no justice. These are worrisome developments. You know in Nigeria that we still have these harmful practices. We don’t have the universal age definition of marriage and people are violating this without being punished.

We know we have some laws, and one of the major laws is the Violence Against Persons Provision Act, and its equivalent – Violence Against Persons Prohibition Laws – in 35 states of Nigeria. Yes, that is a very good law that can also help to check gender based violence, but the problem is implementation. The effective implementation is the key. It is one thing to have a law. The law is not a panacea, you have to be able to enforce that law and make resources available (political and economic); have people with capacity that can enforce that law and then do effective coordination and cooperation with both government and non-governmental organizations, especially those that are service providers.

I think NGOs are overburdened by what ordinarily should be the government’s responsibility – the government should be able to take care of its citizens.

The government should be able to pay for those services to ensure that victims or survivors of gender based violence get the justice that they deserve.

Importantly, I think it’s high time we started to focus on prevention. There’s a cliche which we are all familiar with: ‘prevention is better than cure.’ I think it’s as true as always. It is really correct; prevention is better than cure. So if we put money into prevention, we can prevent some of these violence and prevent the preventable; create awareness and help promote serious tolerance so that people know that is not okay to engage in violence against any gender, particularly women and girls. When they know that there is punishment, it will help to end the impunity. Because part of why this is going on and not stopping is because of the impunity around it. That impunity is what we must check.

Really there’s no consequences because the laws are not being enforced, while some of the cases will just be in the court for a long time. Speedy justice is very important and effective remedies also for victims is important because some will say ‘and then I reported to the police and what happens?’

As we mark the 16 days of activism, which starts on 25 November, that is the international day for elimination of violence, and ends on 10th of December, the Human Rights Day, it should be a time for stock taking, a time for re-strategizing, a time for us to tell ourselves the truth. It’s a time for collective action, a time to mobilize the needed resources to fight this menace or scourge of gender-based violence that is affecting even the family. It’s affecting the society – it really can make a society become a monstrous society because of the way things are happening if there is no safety, no safe street.