Women
Rape and Domestic Violence: The law criminalizes rape of women and domestic violence, but not rape of men. Spousal rape is not criminalized. The government did not effectively enforce the law.
Sentences for persons convicted of rape and sexual assault were inconsistent and often minor. Federal law provides penalties ranging from 12 years to life imprisonment for offenders older than 14 and a maximum of 14 years’ imprisonment for offenders aged 14 and younger. It also provides for a public register of convicted sexual offenders and appointment of protection officers at the local government level to coordinate with courts and provide for survivors to receive various forms of assistance (e.g., medical, psychosocial, legal, rehabilitative, and for reintegration) provided by the law. The law also includes provisions to protect the identity of rape survivors and empower courts to award appropriate compensation to survivors. Because the relevant federal law had not been adopted in all states, state law continued to govern most rape and sexual assault cases and typically allowed for lesser sentences. While some, mostly southern, states enacted laws prohibiting some forms of gender-based violence or sought to safeguard certain rights, most states did not have such legislation. Survivors generally had little or no recourse to justice.
Police often refused to intervene in domestic violence cases or blamed the victim for provoking the abuse. In rural areas, courts and police were reluctant to intervene to protect women who formally accused their husbands of abuse if the level of alleged abuse did not exceed local customary norms.
Prison guards reportedly engaged in gender-based violence against women prisoners (see section 1.c.).
Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C): Federal law criminalizes FGM/C. The law penalizes persons performing female circumcision or genital mutilation or anyone aiding or abetting such a person. Enforcement of the law was rare.
A February report from the UN Population Fund found 22 of 36 states had laws against FGM/C. NGOs found they had to convince local authorities these state laws applied in their districts.
The 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey found 20 percent of women ages 15 to 49 had undergone FGM/C. The federal government launched a revised national policy on the elimination of FGM/C for 2020-24.
Other Forms of Gender-based Violence: According to the law, any person convicted of subjecting another person to harmful traditional practices may be punished with up to four years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both. For purposes of the law, harmful traditional practices mean all traditional behavior, attitudes, or practices negatively affecting the fundamental human rights of women or girls, including denial of inheritance or succession rights, FGM/C, forced marriage, and forced isolation from family and friends.
Despite this federal law, purdah (the cultural practice of secluding women and pubescent girls from unrelated men) continued in parts of the north. “Confinement,” which occurred predominantly in the North East region, remained the most common rite of deprivation for widows. Confined widows were subject to social restrictions for as long as one year and usually shaved their heads and dressed in black as part of a culturally mandated mourning period. In other areas communities viewed a widow as a part of her husband’s property to be “inherited” by his family. In some traditional southern communities, widows fell under suspicion when their husbands died. To prove their innocence, they were forced to drink the water used to clean their deceased husbands’ bodies.
Sexual Harassment: No statutes prohibit sexual harassment, but assault statutes provide for prosecution of violent harassment, with penalties of up to three years’ imprisonment. The law criminalizes stalking. The law also criminalizes emotional, verbal, and psychological abuse and acts of intimidation. Enforcement was uncommon.
The practice of demanding sexual favors in exchange for employment or university grades remained common.
Reproductive Rights: In December, Reuters alleged a long-standing secret military program of forced or coerced abortions for women and girls who had either escaped or been rescued from Boko Haram captivity. The military reportedly employed either surgical procedures or abortion-causing pills or injections, often without consent or knowledge, with the victims subjected to unspecified medical care. Some of the alleged victims died from the surgery or drugs. Reuters estimated at least 10,000 procedures were carried out on pregnant individuals since 2013. Various NGOs and human rights organizations began their own investigations in response to the allegations, some expressing skepticism, and some recounting their own concerns from earlier reports. Some of these groups recounted cultural and religious objections to abortion – which is illegal, except to save a mother’s life – among populations subject to Boko Haram depredations as reasons to doubt the Reuters report. Others noted the strong stigmatization of women survivors of Boko Haram sexual abuse and of any resulting children as a possible motivator for abortions. On December 16, the chief of defense staff called on the National Human Rights Commission to launch an investigation of the Reuters allegations and stated the military would cooperate.
Many couples and individuals did not have access to the information and the means to access safe, effective, and affordable methods of family planning. Traditional practices often hampered a woman’s choice on family size. Information on reproductive health and access to quality reproductive health services and emergency obstetric care were not widely available.
The National Health Insurance Scheme did not always cover family planning services. Health insurance covered family planning counseling but not contraceptives. Conversations regarding sex and sexuality matters were taboo in many places, posing a barrier to access for youth who might need services and information from health-care providers.
In some states, health-care workers frequently required women to provide proof of spousal consent prior to accessing contraceptives. Pediatricians provided primary care for adolescents through 18 years of age. Adolescent-friendly reproductive health services and interventions were usually not provided within the health system. Pregnant girls were generally not allowed to attend school (see section 6, Children, Education). Emergency contraceptives were available as part of family planning method mix; however, there were some barriers to women receiving them. For example, there were reports unmarried women were denied emergency contraceptives by health-care providers.
Low literacy and low economic empowerment among couples hampered effective access to skilled health attendance during pregnancy and delivery. Government insurance policies sometimes provided for free antenatal services.
Lack of access to primary health-care facilities in rural and hard-to-reach areas with poor transportation and communications infrastructure impacted access to antenatal care and skilled birth delivery. The cost of services was also a barrier. Gender norms limited access to health services, including for reproductive and maternal health; women who were financially or socially dependent on men might be unable to access health care without seeking consent from their spouses.
In the northern part of the country, societal and cultural norms played a role in women not leaving the house unaccompanied or not accessing reproductive health services. Some women also preferred to deliver their babies using traditional birth attendants for cultural reasons and due to the affordability of their services.
The government received support from donors to provide access to age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health services for survivors of sexual violence. Sexual violence survivors who sought and had access to care received HIV testing services, provision of post-exposure prophylaxis (within 72 hours), pre-exposure prophylaxis for clients without HIV, antiretroviral services for clients with HIV, provision of emergency contraceptives (within 120 hours), testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, legal support where required, and other services, such as referrals for longer-term psychosocial support and economic empowerment programs.
Emergency health-care services were mostly provided by private hospitals. Post-abortion care was limited.
The 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey reported a maternal mortality rate of 512 deaths per 100,000 live births due to several factors, including lack of access to antenatal care, skilled birth attendants, emergency obstetric care, and other medical services. According to the survey, 67 percent of births in 2018 were attended by skilled health personnel.
Discrimination: Although the constitution provides the same legal status and rights for women as for men, and there were no known legal restrictions on women’s working hours or jobs deemed too dangerous for women, women faced discrimination in hiring in certain industries such as construction, energy, and agriculture. Women experienced considerable economic discrimination. The law does not mandate equal remuneration for work of equal value, nor does it mandate nondiscrimination based on gender in hiring. The government did not effectively enforce the law.
Women generally remained marginalized. No laws prohibit women from owning land, but customary land tenure systems allowed only men to own land, with women gaining access to land only via marriage or family. Many customary practices did not recognize a woman’s right to inherit property, and many widows became destitute when their in-laws took the deceased husband’s property.
In the 12 northern states adhering to sharia, religious and social norms affected women to varying degrees. For example, in Zamfara State, local governments enforced laws requiring the separation of Muslim men and women in transportation and health care.
Women could arrange but not post bail at most police detention facilities.
Women in the LGBTQI+ community faced systemic discrimination due to federal laws outlawing same-sex relationships and cultural attitudes (see section 6, Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics).
Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination
The law prohibits ethnic discrimination by the government, but most ethnic groups claimed marginalization in terms of government revenue allocation, political representation, or both. The federal and state governments made some efforts to enforce the law.
The country’s ethnically diverse population consisted of more than 250 groups speaking 395 different languages. Many were concentrated geographically. Three major groups – Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba – together constituted approximately one-half the population. Members of all ethnic groups reportedly practiced ethnic discrimination, particularly in private sector hiring patterns and the segregation of urban neighborhoods. A long history of tension existed among some ethnic groups. The government’s efforts to address tensions among ethnic groups typically involved focused security actions, incorporating police, military, and other security services, often in the form of a joint task force.
The constitution requires the government to have a “federal character,” meaning cabinet and other high-level positions must be distributed to persons representing each of the 36 states or each of the six geopolitical regions. President Buhari’s cabinet appointments conformed to this policy. Traditional relationships were used to pressure government officials to favor particular ethnic groups in the distribution of important positions and other patronage.
All citizens have the right to live in any part of the country, but state and local governments frequently discriminated against ethnic groups not indigenous to their areas, occasionally compelling individuals to return to a region where their ethnic group originated but where they no longer had ties. State and local governments sometimes compelled nonindigenous persons to move by threats, discrimination in hiring and employment, or destruction of their homes. Those who chose to stay sometimes experienced further discrimination, including denial of scholarships and exclusion from employment in the civil service, police, and military.
Land disputes, competition concerning dwindling resources, and ethnic and “settler-indigene” tensions contributed to clashes between herdsmen and farmers throughout the North Central region. Religious affiliation also contributed to and exacerbated some local conflicts. Many international organizations, including the International Crisis Group, assessed identity-based divisions were incidental to the resource-based conflict, but such conflict increased polarization and tension along religious lines. Conflicts concerning land rights continued among members of the Tiv, Kwalla, Jukun, Fulani, and Azara ethnic groups living near the convergence of the states of Nasarawa, Benue, and Taraba.
The government engaged in efforts to quell intercommunal conflict. Various early warning systems operating throughout the North Central and North West regions were also responsible for preventing attacks from occurring. The Plateau Peacebuilding Agency actively promoted and spread its peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts through the development of intercommunal early warning systems that were able to check simmering conflict before it erupted into violence.
The government further implemented substantial reforms in the cattle-rearing industry, with input from state and local stakeholders to facilitate and incentivize ranching over herding to combat sources of rural violence. To implement the National Livestock Transformation Policy, the federal government in November 2021 began to receive applications from states to disburse funds allocated for herding-to-ranching projects.
In Kano State, the government took special steps to stem insecurity that spurred ethnic tensions. The Kano Interreligious Council, the Kano Peace Commission, and the State Commission for Religious Affairs brought persons together to discuss problems with the potential to disrupt public cohesion. The state government further invited herders and their cattle to occupy the Rogo Forest on Kano State’s western border with Kaduna State, where they would not cross paths with farmers, and incentivized the move with the establishment of rural feeder roads, water service, schools, and health facilities in the area.
Children
Birth Registration: Children derive their citizenship from their parents. The government does not require birth registration, and the majority of births were unregistered. Lack of documents did not result in denial of education, health care, or other public services. Birth registration was provided on a nondiscriminatory basis, and there was no significant difference in birth registration rates based on the sex of the child.
Education: The law requires provision of tuition-free, compulsory, and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age. According to the constitution, women and girls are supposed to receive career and vocational guidance at all levels, as well as access to quality education, education advancement, and lifelong learning. Despite these provisions, extensive discrimination and impediments to women’s and girls’ participation in education persisted, particularly in the north. The lowest attendance rates were in the north.
Pregnant girls were generally not allowed to attend school, with some schools reportedly conducting pregnancy tests before admitting them.
The North East region had the lowest primary school attendance rate. The most pronounced reason was the Boko Haram and ISIS-WA insurgencies, which prevented thousands of children from continuing their education in Borno State and Yobe State (due to destruction of schools, community displacement, and mass movement of families from those crisis states to safer areas). Attacks on schools and kidnappings exacerbated the situation.
Schools in the FCT and Jigawa State were closed in July and August due to concerns of schoolchildren being abducted (see section 1.b.). In April, UNICEF announced more than 11,000 schools had closed due to security concerns since 2000.
Child Abuse: There are laws against child abuse; however, these laws require ratification by each state, and not all states have ratified them. Child abuse remained common throughout the country, but the government took no significant measures to combat it.
In some states, children accused of witchcraft were killed or suffered abuse such as kidnapping and torture.
So-called baby factories operated, often disguised as orphanages, religious or rehabilitation centers, hospitals, or maternity homes. They sold newborns of pregnant women – mostly unmarried girls – who were sometimes held against their will and raped. The persons running the factories sold the children for various purposes, including adoption, child labor, child trafficking, or sacrificial rituals, with boys fetching higher prices. In June, police rescued 35 teenage girls from an alleged baby factory in a hotel in Anambra State, where traffickers had subjected the girls to sex trafficking. Police arrested three suspects. In July, police rescued three women from a baby factory in Delta State. Two suspects in the case remained at large.
Child, Early, and Forced Marriage: Federal law sets a minimum age of 18 for marriage for both boys and girls. While 32 states have adopted the law, many states, especially northern states, did not uphold the federal minimum age. In some states, children as young as 11 can be legally married under customary or religious law. The government continued to work with local and international partners to engage religious leaders, emirs, and sultans on the problem, emphasizing the health hazards of early marriage. Certain states worked with NGO programs to establish school subsidies or fee waivers for children to help protect against early marriage. The government did not take significant legal steps to end sales of young girls into marriage.
Boko Haram and other terrorist groups subjected abducted girls to forced marriage.
Sexual Exploitation of Children: The law prohibits child commercial sexual exploitation, child sex trafficking, and sexual intercourse with a child, although it does not explicitly mention sale or grooming. The minimum age for sexual consent varies according to state law. According to the constitution, “full age” means the age of 18, but it creates an exception for any married woman who “shall be deemed of full age.”
The law criminalizes the production, procurement, distribution, and possession of child pornography. Enforcement of the law remained uneven.
Sexual exploitation of children remained a significant problem. Children were exploited in commercial sex, both within the country and in other countries. There were reports girls were victims of sexual exploitation in IDP camps.
The government expanded efforts to identify victims of exploitation in IDP camps. For example, the government continued a screening and sensitization campaign to identify sex trafficking survivors in IDP camps in Borno State. The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons also collaborated with the Borno state government, international organizations, and NGOs to operate the Borno State Antitrafficking Task Force.
Infanticide, Including Infanticide of Children with Disabilities: Media reports indicated some communities killed infants born as twins or with birth defects or albinism. Prosecution of perpetrators remained uneven.
Displaced Children: According to UNICEF, as of 2020, children made up approximately 60 percent of an estimated 2.2 million persons displaced in the North East region. There were displaced children among IDP populations in other parts of the north as well. Many children were homeless.
Antisemitism
Although accounting for far less than 1 percent of the population, there were three distinct Jewish communities. The smallest of these were mostly foreigners, whom Israel and the Diaspora recognized. A larger group of several thousand indigenous Jews were not recognized internationally. There were also Judaic-oriented groups, including Sabbatarians, the members of which adopted many Jewish customs but were essentially Christian. There were no known reports of antisemitic acts.
Trafficking in Persons
See the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at https://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report/.
Organ Harvesting
Reports of organ harvesting persisted. Statistics concerning its prevalence were almost nonexistent. The law does not require transplant donors to consent to any transplant.
In June, police arrested Enuegu state politician Ike Ekweremadu at Heathrow Airport in London. Ekweremadu was accused of trafficking a man, age 21, from Nigeria to the United Kingdom to harvest the man’s kidney for transplant to Ekweremadu’s daughter. Ekweremadu’s wife and a Nigerian doctor residing in the United Kingdom were also arrested as part of the investigation. Ekweremadu remained in custody in the United Kingdom with a trial scheduled to begin in 2023.
Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics
Criminalization: The law criminalizes the public display of same-sex “amorous affection.” In the 12 states with sharia, adults convicted of engaging in same-sex sexual conduct may be subject to execution by stoning. Although men have been convicted and imprisoned under sharia, none were executed during the year.
In June, authorities arrested three men in Bauchi State for engaging in homosexuality. A sharia court sentenced them to death by stoning. They appealed the sentence, and the men remained incarcerated with the appeal pending at year’s end.
Violence against LGBTQI+ Persons: LGBTQI+ persons reported threats and violence against them based on their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, according to the NGO The Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERS). The NGO documented 520 human rights abuses based on real or perceived sexual orientation, gender expression, and sex characteristics during the year. Of these cases, more than 10 percent involved state actors. Invasion of privacy, arbitrary arrest, and unlawful detention were the most common abuses perpetrated by officers and other state actors. Blackmail, extortion, assault, and battery were the most common abuses perpetrated by nonstate actors.
Discrimination: LGBTQI+ persons reported discrimination based on their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The law does not provide protections for or prohibit discrimination against LGBTQI+ persons and forbids same-sex marriage and civil unions. LGBTQI+ persons persistently faced stigma, discrimination, and barriers to accessing basic health care. These included limiting physical access to facilities, challenges communicating with health-care providers, discriminatory or negative attitudes among health-care workers, and higher user fees. LGBTQI+ persons also faced barriers in obtaining employment and securing housing. Many LGBTQI+ persons reported security officials asked for bribes after being caught engaging in “homosexual activities.”
Availability of Legal Gender Recognition: Legal gender recognition was not available. There were no mechanisms to change the gender assigned at birth on legal documents.
Involuntary or Coercive Medical or Psychological Practices Specifically Targeting LGBTQI+ Individuals: There are no laws regulating “conversion therapy.” A report on “conversion” practices by TIERS in 2021 found approximately half of the survey’s LGBTQI+ respondents had been subjected to “conversion therapy.” Religious institutions – Christian, Muslim, and traditional religions – all performed rituals alleged to “cure” homosexuality. These rituals were often coded as “deliverance from evil spirits.” Families, classmates, and community members of LGBTQI+ individuals often pressured the individuals into joining a “conversion” program.
Approximately 20 percent of respondents to the TIERS report stated they suffered physical abuse during “conversion” therapy programs. Approximately 6 percent were locked in conversion facilities without freedom of movement.
“Aversion Therapy,” which involved causing sickness or using electrical shocks in LGBTQI+ victims when they were sexually aroused, was used, but was not common.
Restrictions of Freedom of Expression, Association, or Peaceful Assembly: The law restricts many forms of activity supporting or promoting the rights of LGBTQI+ persons. For example, the law forbids the registration of LGBTQI+ organizations, and criminalizes support for LGBTQI+ organizations, marriages, or civil unions. Multiple LGBTQI+ NGOs, however, operated legally by pursuing related goals, such as legal advice or HIV and AIDS awareness.
Persons with Disabilities
Persons with disabilities often faced restrictions to equal access. While the law prohibits discrimination based on disability and provides persons with disabilities the right to equal access to education, health services, public buildings, and transportation, persons with disabilities often did not have such access. The government did not always enforce the law.
Persons with disabilities faced social stigma, exploitation, and discrimination, and relatives often regarded them as a source of shame. Many indigent persons with disabilities begged on the streets. Mental health-care services were almost nonexistent.
Children with disabilities faced significant hurdles obtaining educational services. A report from the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities stated primary and secondary students with disabilities were confined to understaffed and underequipped schools. Inclusion programs in mainstream schools were rare.
Persons with disabilities faced significant barriers to civic participation. In February, the government signed the Electoral Act Amendment, which included provisions for improving access to voting for persons with disabilities.
Other Societal Violence or Discrimination
State-sponsored vigilante groups proliferated in recent years as the security situation deteriorated. These groups tended to be from the same geographic area or ethnic group and were usually created by order of a state governor. Support from the federal government varied from tacit acceptance to outright hostility. There was minimal accountability for these groups, and they operated with near impunity.
For example, in 2021, a group called Ebubeagu was formed in the South East region. Ebubeagu operated primarily in Ebonyi State and Imo State. Media alleged the group committed multiple human rights abuses. In January, Ebubeagu allegedly abused and killed a robbery suspect in Ebonyi State. In July, Ebubeagu members in Imo State allegedly shot and killed multiple persons returning home from a wedding. Reports on the number of dead varied between seven to 14. The governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, denied Ebubeagu’s involvement and stated “bandits” committed the crimes, and were using alleged Ebubeagu involvement for propaganda. There were no reports of investigations or prosecutions related to either of these cases.
In October, Ebubeagu also reportedly intimidated political rivals of Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi, including senate candidate Linus Okorie.
In the South West region, the Western Nigeria Security Network, known as Amotekun, operated in the states of Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo. Formed in 2020, Amotekun allegedly committed human rights abuses. In June, Amotekun members attempting to arrest university students allegedly shot and killed a student in Ondo State. There were no reports on investigations or prosecutions related to the shooting.
Members of both Christian and Muslim groups continued to report some state and local government laws discriminated against them, including by limiting their rights to freedom of expression and assembly and to obtain government employment.
Persons born with albinism faced discrimination, were considered bad luck, and were sometimes abandoned at birth or killed for witchcraft purposes.
In general, persons with HIV faced widespread stigma and discrimination. Persons with HIV and AIDS were often ostracized by the community, fired from their jobs, or cast away from family. The federal and state governments continue to work with international donors and NGOs to reduce stigma and change perceptions of persons living with HIV and AIDS. The government also worked to reduce hesitancy in HIV testing and treatment.
Various reports indicated street mobs attacked suspected criminals. In many cases, these mob actions did not result in arrests. These attacks were reported to stem from a lack of faith in police and judicial systems.
There were also reports of mobs committing violence following allegations of blasphemy. See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report at https://www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/.
On May 12, a mob killed Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a Christian university student at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, after she allegedly made blasphemous statements regarding Islam on a student WhatsApp chat. Authorities arrested two suspects the following day, leading to rioting and attacks on churches in Sokoto by individuals protesting the arrests.