Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), has called on the federal government to take steps towards ensuring that states making laws that are in violation of the constitution are called to order and asked to reverse course.

The Executive Director, PLAC, Clement Nwankwo, who gave this advice in Abuja while presenting a report on human rights for 2022 as part of the event to mark this year’s World’s Human Rights Day, said the federal government is the custodian of the nation’s constitutional order, with the president and the governors swearing an oath to abide by the constitution.

Noting that the country has not only failed to protect a vast majority of its citizens from the erosion of their basic and fundamental rights, Nwankwo lamented that the government was often found complicit in actions that deny rather than enhance those rights.

Nwankwo further called on the authorities to launch investigations into allegations that some members of the security forces are showing partisanship to some sides in the grazing conflict.

The step, he said, will help to nip such practices in bud, if true, and boost citizens’ trust in the armed forces.

According to him, Nigeria is off course and drifting away from its responsibilities as enshrined in the country’s constitution and various international human rights treaty obligations and documents.

He called on the government to redouble efforts to tackle pervasive insecurity in the country and reassert its control over the country’s territory.

Nwankwo stressed the need for a change in attitude where the government sees itself as the prime defender of human rights rather than their prime violator, saying that th government can do this by adhering to the rule of law in all its conduct and avoiding the current appearance of the selective application.

His words: “One key finding made in the report is that Nigeria is going through a period of great economic difficulties that have formed the backdrop, or often provided the impetus for many of the rights violations that happen in the country.

“In the midst of severe economic difficulties, the ideal conditions for meeting the most basic of rights are non-existent. The fact that the country is at the same time going through a political transition amid plunging revenues makes the situation even more precarious.

“The result has been a worsening of social tensions, a further escalation of a long-simmering grazing conflict that follows ethnic and religious fault lines, leading to the emergence of insurgent and secessionist groups in different parts of the country. It is against this background that many of the violations of human rights unfolded in Nigeria in 2022.

“The biggest dangers to the fundamental rights of Nigerians have come in the forms of threats to life, personal liberty, human dignity, the rights to private property and family life. These have come mostly from a failure of the state to ensure the welfare of its citizens, which is one of the fundamental objectives of the government.

“These rights have been outrageously violated during the period under review in the incidents of kidnapping for ransom, heinous killings, various communal conflicts, insurgencies and secessionist movements. These violations, by mostly non-state actors, take place largely because the State has failed the citizens through its inability to guarantee as well as maintain law and order.

“Beyond those violations, which were as a result of government shortcomings, there are also those that are the result of abuses by government and State officials. What has become obvious in recent years is a steady contraction of the civic space that emerged with the end of military rule in 1999 and gave Nigerian democracy a moral force.

“Many of these abuses are related to the administration of justice, the application of the principle of fair hearing, and the protection of the right to freedom of expression, movement, association, thought, religion and conscience. Very often it is the government undermining these constitutional rights and protections.

“For instance, an October 13 ruling by the Court of Appeal specifically reprimanded the government for its role in abducting a wanted citizen from a foreign country without due process in order to bring him for trial. Such an illegal action by the government in the terrorism and treasonable felony trial of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, nullified the government’s case, making it untriable in Nigeria, the court said in its landmark ruling. But the government has persisted in its ways by disregarding the court ruling and seeking an appeal at the same time.

“Both the Federal and State governments have also demonstrated a lack of tolerance for criticism. They have often chosen to clamp down on critics by deploying regulatory powers, citing bogus laws and using security forces.

“Examples include the ban of Twitter and the numerous occasions government officials, including the President’s wife, unlawfully arrest and detain critics and journalists.

“The absence of an effective and transparent system of the administration of criminal justice that ensures fair hearing and commands the trust of citizens has led to a loss of faith in the existing system and the resort to self-help. One of the consequences is the proliferation of mob action and the public lynching of suspects.

“It was also noted that some states were implementing religious laws that are in conflict with the provisions of the Constitution. As the law provides, the Constitution takes precedence whenever there’s a conflict with existing law.

“The year under review was also remarkable as one in which five bills designed to improve the rights of women failed to get the approval of a male-dominated parliament. The rejection of the bills reflect a mindset of those members hostile to the rights of women. That is equally symptomatic of what obtains in the wider society, where women are not only denied their rights but also become victims of harmful traditional practices.

“The state of the economy will inevitably affect the state of human rights. The government needs to improve its economic management, given that the welfare of the people is the primary responsibility of the government. PLAC stated that there is an urgent need to tackle the grazing conflict sweeping the country as it’s directly implicated in food shortages and their rising costs.

“The report further faulted the failure of the National Assembly during the ongoing Constitution Review exercise, to pass alterations seeking to increase women’s participation in governance. PLAC called on the Federal Government to initiate an executive bill to increase women’s representation in the legislature and their participation in governance.”