The United States of America has urged Nigeria to modify its 1992 Press Act to remove restrictions on free expression and to stop making arbitrary arrests and pursuing legal action against LGBT people.
This petition was submitted in Geneva, Switzerland, during the fourth cycle of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Period Review of Nigeria.
Speaking about some of Nigeria’s human rights concerns, a representative of the US government said, “We remain concerned regarding certain restrictions on the enjoyment of Nigerians’ human rights.”
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“In the spirit of constructive engagement, we recommend that Nigeria implement recommendations from the state-level investigations panel report on security forces response to the #EndSARS protests, including prosecution as appropriate of the individuals implicated in the reports.
She further recommended, “Amend the Nigerian Press Act of 1992 to remove restrictions on freedom of expression, specifically as it applies to online and citizen journalists.
“End the arbitrary arrest and prosecution of LGBT persons and amend the armed forces standard operating procedure to ensure the protection of human rights and fundamental freedom of all Nigerians.”
In response, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, Attorney General of the Federation, expressed gratitude for the UN Human Rights Council’s interest in Nigerian matters and the suggestions that had been made.
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He underlined that Nigeria is making efforts to create national agreement on justice system reform.
He stated, “I will like to assure you that Nigeria has continued to take very commendable steps towards building a consensus across the federation of Nigeria in order to have a justice sector reform that is worthy of emulation all over the world.”
He further added, “You must take into consideration that ours is a federation; therefore, we need to engage both the national and subnational governments in order to arrive at a consensus.
“As a foundation, therefore, we have set up several mechanisms for the engagement of subnational governments to ensure the consistency of our efforts.”
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