IHRD 2025: CAPPA Condemns Decline in Rights Protections in Nigeria, Calls for Urgent Reforms
As the world observes International Human Rights Day 2025, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has condemned the worsening state of human rights protection in Nigeria, attributing the decline to systemic governance failures that deprive countless Nigerians of their dignity, security, and rights rooted in their humanity and citizenship.
In a statement issued to mark the day, CAPPA highlighted that neglect by the state, abuse of power, impunity among law enforcement agencies, widespread insecurity, and mounting socio-economic pressures continue to devastate many lives. Survivors are left with unhealed wounds, eroded rights, and a widening gap between the freedoms promised politically and the harsh realities on the ground.
The organisation called on authorities at all levels to end impunity for abuses by security forces, protect journalists, activists, and human rights defenders, prioritise the security of all citizens, address the social and economic factors driving mass suffering, strengthen national institutions, and cultivate 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 drew attention to ongoing 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 Nigeria are facing overlapping crises, with civil and political rights under attack, social and economic rights in free fall, and insecurity and communal violence on the rise: Peaceful protesters still risk lethal force and arbitrary detention, with no accountability for the at least 24 unarmed citizens killed during the 2024 #EndBadGovernance protests, abuses that continue to cast a long shadow in 2025. Journalists and media workers remain targets of intimidation, harassment, and detention, with around 69 attacks on journalists this year alone, 74 per cent of which were carried out 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 further emphasised that millions of Nigerians continue to struggle without access to essentials such as safe water, decent housing, healthcare, and secure livelihoods. Rising inflation, unsafe communities, and the lack of social protection have left families vulnerable and desperate. CAPPA described these as not only economic issues but urgent human rights emergencies.
The organisation urged the Federal Government and all duty-bearers to take decisive action to “reverse the dangerous trajectory of rights violations and emergencies in Nigeria.”
It noted that International Human Rights Day is a moment to reflect on how far the country has strayed from the fundamental guarantees owed to its people. Nigeria cannot continue down a path where violence is normalised, institutions fail with no consequences, and citizens are left to navigate insecurity and deprivation with minimal 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 concluded that meaningful progress will depend on steady, practical reforms that safeguard civic freedoms, strengthen oversight of security agencies, enhance the capacity of human rights institutions, and address the social conditions that make communities vulnerable.
The statement finished by calling on 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.