• Nigeria: Boko Haram Attacks and Security Force Abuses
    Oct 10, 2012
    Widespread and systematic murder and persecution by Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group in northern Nigeria, likely amount to crimes against humanity. Human Rights Watch documents violence and atrocities, which Boko Haram has claimed responsibility, that has claimed more than 2,800 lives. Boko Haram’s attacks – centered in northern Nigeria – have primarily targeted police and anyone working for or accused of cooperating with the government. Government security forces have also engaged in numerous abuses, including extrajudicial killings, which contravene international human rights law and might also constitute crimes against humanity. Security forces have killed hundreds of Boko Haram suspects and other members of the public with no apparent links to the group, in the name of ending the group’s threat to the country’s citizens. But the authorities have rarely prosecuted those responsible for the Boko Haram violence or security force personnel for their abuses.
  • Nigeria: Mercury in Gold Mining
    Jun 25, 2012
    Negotiations for an international treaty to limit the use of mercury should seek to protect the health rights of artisanal gold mining communities, such as those in Bagega, Nigeria. Mercury is highly toxic that attacks the central nervous system, causing tremors and twitching, memory loss, brain damage, or other neurological and behavioral disorders. It can also damage the kidneys and the lungs. Mercury is particularly harmful to children and can cause developmental problems and irreversible brain damage. Under international human rights law, work with hazardous substances and processes is classified among the worst forms of child labor. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining – gold mining without industrial equipment – is one of the largest sectors for mercury use globally and 13 million people worldwide, including children, work in artisanal gold mining and use mercury to extract gold from the ore.
  • A Heavy Price: Lead Poisoning and Gold Mining in Nigeria's Zamfara State
    Jan 31, 2012
  • Police Corruption in Nigeria
    Aug 17, 2010
    Widespread corruption in the Nigeria Police Force is fueling abuses against ordinary citizens and severely undermining the rule of law in Nigeria. On a daily basis, countless ordinary Nigerians are accosted by armed police officers who demand bribes and commit human rights abuses against them as a means of extorting money. These abuses range from arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention to threats and acts of violence, including sexual assault, torture, and even extrajudicial killings. Police also routinely extort money from victims of crimes to initiate investigations and demand bribes from suspects to drop investigations. Cartoons by Basati for Human Rights Watch unless otherwise noted.
  • Behind the Violence in Nigeria
    Apr 1, 2010

    A massacre near the Nigerian city of Jos last month left more than 200 people dead. HRW's Eric Guttschuss and Nigerian journalist Dr. Reuben Abati explain how politics, impunity and corruption have fueled the violence. Hosted by Miriam Wells.

  • Nigeria: Inter-Communal Violence and Arbitrary Killings
    Jul 20, 2009
    In November 2008, deadly clashes between mobs of Muslim and Christian and the excessive use of force by security forces left more than 700 dead in Jos, Plateau State. Human Rights Watch testified before the Plateau State Judicial Commission of Inquiry on July 20 and recounted chilling accounts of policemen and soldiers gunning down unarmed citizens in their homes, chasing down and killing men trying to flee to safety, and lining victims up on the ground and summarily executing them.