From Victor Edozie, in Port Harcourt
As the world marks International Human Rights Day 2025, the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has decried the deteriorating state of human-rights protection in Nigeria, blaming systemic governance failures for depriving many Nigerians of the dignity, security, and rights to which they are entitled by virtue of their humanity and citizenship.
In a statement signed by Robert Egbe
Media and Communication Officer, CAPPA to mark the day, CAPPA observed that state neglect and abuse of power, impunity among law-enforcement agencies, widespread insecurity, and mounting socio-economic pressures continue to diminish countless lives, leaving survivors with unhealed wounds, eroded rights, and a widening gap between the freedoms politically promised and the harsh realities on ground.
The organisation urged authorities at all levels to end impunity for security-force abuses; protect journalists, activists and human-rights defenders; prioritise the security of all citizens; address the social and economic conditions driving mass suffering; strengthen national institutions; and foster a genuine national culture of care and human rights.
“2025 has been a year of grim reminders,” the statement reads. “From the 570 killings and 278 kidnappings reported across the country in April alone, to the 275,256 human-rights abuse complaints recorded in May by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Nigerians continue to endure levels of violence, deprivation and state neglect that are incompatible with any notion of a rights-respecting society.”
CAPPA spotlighted persistent grave and systemic rights violations, including abuses of women’s and girls’ rights, and mass abductions, as the state repeatedly fails to prevent targeted attacks on communities, schools and vulnerable populations.
According to the statement, citizens across the federation are confronted with overlapping crises with civil and political rights under attack, social and economic rights in free fall, and escalating insecurity and communal violence: Peaceful protesters still risk lethal force and arbitrary arrests, with no accountability for the at least 24 unarmed citizens killed during the 2024 #EndBadGovernance demonstrations, abuses that still cast a long shadow in 2025. Journalists and media workers remain targets of intimidation, harassment, and detention, CAPPA said, with about 69 attacks on journalists this year alone, 74 per cent perpetrated by state actors, according to a 2025 Media Rights Agenda (MRA) report.
“When those charged with protecting rights become their violators, democracy itself is endangered,” the statement added.
It underscored that millions continue to struggle without access to essentials – safe water, decent housing, adequate healthcare, and secure livelihoods, and that rising inflation, unsafe communities, and the absence of social protection have left families vulnerable and desperate. CAPPA described these as not just economic problems, but urgent human-rights emergencies.
The organisation called on the Federal Government and all duty-bearers to take decisive steps to “reverse the dangerous trajectory of rights violations and emergencies in Nigeria.”
It emphasised that International Human Rights Day is a moment to take stock of how far the country has drifted from the basic guarantees it owes its people. The statement said that Nigeria cannot continue on a path where violence is normalised, institutions fail without consequence, and citizens are left to navigate insecurity and deprivation with little protection from the state.
“People have the right to safety, justice and dignity,” the organisation said.
“These are obligations the Nigerian state must meet. A credible response requires honesty about what is broken and a renewed commitment to rebuilding systems that restore them.”
CAPPA added that progress will depend on steady and practical reforms that safeguard civic freedoms, strengthen oversight of security agencies, improve the capacity of human-rights institutions, and address the social conditions that make communities vulnerable.
The statement concluded by encouraging government, civil society and partners across sectors to pursue practical solutions that rebuild trust, close protection gaps and empower Nigerians to live without fear, deprivation or uncertainty.
