Nigeria’s Anti-Torture Law Prescribes 25 Years Jail For Law Enforcement Officers,Others

The Anti Torture Act, 2017 enacted by Nigeria’s National Assembly forbids law enforcement officers from torturing civilians.

The act, which was passed by the Senate on 13 July 2017 and assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari( on 20th December 2018), recommends about 25 years imprisonment for officers or anyone confirmed to have tortured another.

The act also shows how torture victims can get remedy under the law.

On Thursday, the law, which penalizes torture, was unveiled in four different languages ( Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, and Pidgin English) at an event held at the National Human Rights Commission Abuja.

It was held in collaboration with the Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action, PRAWA and other international agencies.

The purpose of the translation is to make the Act accessible to Nigerians and for easy understanding of the law, particularly at the grass root level.

In Section 2(1) of the act, “torture is deemed committed when an act by which pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally inflicted on a person to obtain” information, intimidate, among others.

Among other things, the act classifies torture as systematic beatings, food deprivation, electric shocks, submersion of head in water, sexual abuse, forced extraction of teeth, denial of sleep or rest, confinement in jails under intolerable conditions by security operatives or civilians.

How To Get Justice For Torture Victims

Section 5 to 6 of the act gives Nigerians who have experienced torture, the right to file complaints and get justice.

The NHRC is one of the agencies that receive such complaints and give legal assistance in the proper handling and filing of the matter.

“A person who has suffered or alleges that he has been subjected to torture shall have the right to complain to and to have his case promptly and impartially examined by a competent authority,” Section 5(i) of the act states.

The law expressly states that any law enforcement officer or senior government official who directs subordinates to torture another is liable to be convicted in court.

“A person who contravenes section 2 of this act commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 25 years,” Section 9 of the act states.

In his welcome address during the presentation on Thursday, the NHRC Executive Secretary, Tony Ojukwu SAN observed that torture was still widespread across Nigeria.

He cited its Independent Investigative Panel (IIP) on Human Rights Violations by the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other Units of the Nigeria Police Force which commenced in 2020 as one of the avenues where people accused officers of torture.

According to the Commission’s 2020 annual report obtained by our correspondent, it received 12,400 torture petitions against law enforcement agents for that year alone.

Speaking further, Ojukwu maintained that “no amount of alleged offense can justify torture on any form.”

For PRAWA’s DG in Nigeria, Uju Agomor, she said the group will continue to serve as a rehabilitation center for victims but added that there was a need to keep criminalizing torture.

In a collaborative report involving NHRC, European Union, PRAWA, Cleen Foundation and International Rehabilitation Council For Torture Victims, tagged “Committee Against Torture”, it was observed that the Nigerian government had not sent any comprehensive report on progress (or otherwise) made on torture cases to the United Nations, for the past 19 years.