By Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko

The Nigeria Army at this moment is headed by a young, vastly educated and well-trained professional soldier: Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu. This young, smart looking officer has been at the helms of affairs of the Nigeria Army for about two years. The Nigeria Army’s hierarchy under the current dispensation has made some correct and appropriate steps. The newspapers are awash with columns and features written by Defence correspondents highlighting what these Reporters classified as unprecedented improvements in the area of infrastructures for the personnel of the Nigeria Army.

However, the Nigeria Army has failed woefully in two areas namely: in their primary constitutional mandate of securing the territorial integrity of Nigeria given that the Nigeria Army has failed to arrest over 90% of the deadliest terrorist masterminds that the Defence Headquarters declared wanted and placed juicy compensations for information on these outlaws.

One of the outlaws that has proven elusive and virtually beyond capture is Bello Turji who was at a time declared as ‘a dead man walking’ by the then Defence chief of Nigeria who later became and is still the minister of Defence in the person of General Chritopher Musa. Nigeria is obviously one of the mist dangerous countries in the world given that series of armed non-state actors are on rampage killing, maiming and destroying lives and property of citizens unchecked and unchallenged in a lot of cases. There is a second arm of these spectacular failures of the present Army: human rights violations.

Significantly, the Nigeria Army has some of the worst human rights records under this dispensation.

The Army under the present leadership has decidedly severed all partnerships with credible civil rights bodies and organisations. The Army has also become tolerant of human rights violations committed by their operatives and has taken the liberty of the ugly fact of the institutional weaknesses of the current leadership of the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria to continuously tolerate serious cases of human rights abuses especially violations of human rights of civilians.

Even with the existence on paper of the Department for Civil military affairs in the Nigeria Army coordinated by a top ranking General, the Army has become very secretive and totally not committed to the principles of transparency and accountability in the area of the prevention of human rights abuses by the members of the Armed forces of Nigeria.

There are over one hundred instances of these neglect of the necessity to respect the human rights of citizens by the Nigeria Army but in this article the writer has chosen to treat just two.

But first, what is human rights and why is the Nigeria Army required constitutionally to protect the human rights of citizens by strictly abiding by the Rules of Engagement? First, it is a fundamental fact that Human rights belong to each and every one of us equally. The United Nations has rightly defined Human rights as standards that recognize and protect the dignity of all human beings. Human rights govern how individual human beings live in society and with each other, as well as their relationship with the State and the obligations that the State have towards them.
Besides, Human rights law obliges governments and all institutions created by law including the Nigeria Army to do some things, and prevents them from doing others. Individuals also have responsibilities: in using their human rights, they must respect the rights of others. No government, group or individual person has the right to do anything that violates another’s rights.

The qualities of human rights includes:
*Universality and inalienability and by this i mean that Human rights are universal and inalienable. All people everywhere in the world are entitled to them. No one can voluntarily give them up. Nor can others take them away from him or her. Secondly, human rights are indivisible. This is so because Whether civil, political, economic, social or cultural in nature, they are all inherent to the dignity of every human person. Consequently, they all have equal status as rights. There is no such thing as a ‘small’ right. There is no hierarchy of human rights.

Hunan rights are Inter-dependent and inter-related because as UNICEF has argued that the realization of one right often depends, wholly or in part, upon the realization of others. For instance, the realization of the right to health may depend on the realization of the right to education or of the right to information.

Speaking to the issue of attributes of human rights, we must staye that hunan rights embody Equality and non-discrimination. This is so because all individuals are equal as human beings and by virtue of the inherent dignity of each human person. All human beings are entitled to their human rights without discrimination of any kind, such as race, color, sex, ethnicity, age, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, disability, property, birth or other status as explained by the human rights treaty bodies.

The Nigeria Army in treating cases of human rights as attacks on their image and therefore resort to secretive investigative activities aimed at boosting their corporate image has failed to realise that human rights demands Participation and inclusion. This is so because every person and all peoples are entitled to active, free and meaningful participation in, contribution to, and enjoyment of civil, political, economic, social and cultural development, through which human rights and fundamental freedoms can be realized. Then the most strategic aspect of human rights which the Nigeria Army has failed to acknowledge and enforce is the fundamental nature of human rights that demands Accountability and adherence to the rule of law.

Human Rights experts say that States and other duty-bearers must comply with the legal norms and standards enshrined in human rights instruments. Where they fail to do so, aggrieved rights-holders are entitled to institute proceedings for appropriate redress before a competent court or other adjudicator, in accordance with the rules and procedures provided by law. ( source: unicef.org).

For General Waidi Shaibu and his Nigeria Army, these two key qualitative attributes of human rights are none of their business. As stated earlier there are two live cases of grave human rights violations by the Army that are yet to be resolved amongst a plethora of other cases. The courts are littered with hundreds of cases of human rights abuses against the military. But we will dwell on the two that happened in Osun and Warri in the Delta State. Osun State case has no component of extrajudicial killing unlike that of Warri in which a young civilian was killed by a soldier and then the Army is covering up this alleged heinous crime.

As reported in its official website, the Management of Osun State University (UNIOSUN) said it received with deep concern and profound displeasure reports of the alleged harassment of some of its students by a number of Nigerian Army recruits in the Oke Baale area of Osogbo.

A statement released by the University Public Relations Officer, Ademola Adesoji stated that the University strongly condemns every form of harassment, intimidation, assault or violation of the dignity and fundamental rights of its students. No member of the University community should be subjected to any form of abuse under any circumstance.

Following the disturbing reports, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Odunayo Clement Adebooye, this morning paid an on-the-spot assessment visit to the affected privately owned hostels at Oke Baale, Osogbo, to ascertain the situation firsthand and interact with the affected students.

During the visit, the Vice-Chancellor inspected the reported damage to some hostel facilities, including broken windows and doors, and met with students who narrated their experiences. He expressed the University’s sympathy with those affected and reassured them that Management would pursue every legitimate avenue to ensure that justice is served.

Addressing the students, Professor Adebooye assured them that the University stands firmly with them and will continue to engage all relevant authorities to ensure that any personal belongings reportedly taken from the students are recovered and returned to their rightful owners. He also assured the students that the University would not relent until the matter is satisfactorily resolved.

The Vice-Chancellor urged the affected students to remain calm, law-abiding and confident that the University would vigorously protect their interests and welfare.

Subsequently, a delegation from the Nigerian Army Depot, Osogbo, visited the Vice-Chancellor to formally brief the University on the steps already taken in response to the incident. The delegation informed the Vice-Chancellor that the personnel alleged to have been involved had been identified and that appropriate disciplinary action, including their immediate dismissal from the ongoing recruitment exercise, would be taken in accordance with the military’s disciplinary procedures.

The Management of Osun State University commends the prompt response and cooperation of the leadership of the Nigerian Army Depot, Osogbo, in addressing the unfortunate incident and giving assurances that those found culpable will be held accountable.

However, this writer is doubtful about the integrity and credibility of the above disciplinary actions by the Army given that the hierarchy does not permit openness, and transparency. Unless and except the Army opens up the disciplinary procedures to public scrutiny, it is simply a propaganda that the Army has sold a dummy to the management of the Osun State University. The management of the Osun State University must be alive to their responsibility and sustain the momentum of defending the human rights of their students and get appropriate redress for the students who were victimised by the Army. The Army must pay monetary compensation to the students whose rights were violated brazenly.
The second live case is catastrophic. It is a matter that our organisation the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) handled initially before the Lagos based constitutional and human rights lawyer Femi Falana took over the matter in the competent court of law.

This is the background: THE Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) had launched a blistering condemnation of the Nigerian Army over what it described as its most troubling era for human rights, accusing the military high command of attempting to justify the unlawful killing of a civilian and progressively eroding public confidence in civil–military accountability.

HURIWA’s reaction followed a formal response by the Nigerian Army defending the actions of a soldier, Lance Corporal Sefiu Ibrahim, over the death of Mr. Ugochukwu Oghenekaro Bonny, who was fatally stabbed at the gate of a private estate in Warri, Delta State, on October 12, 2025. The rights group said the Army’s explanation not only trivialised the sanctity of civilian life but also raised fundamental questions about the rules governing military deployments and the use of force in civilian environments.

In a statement issued in Abuja, HURIWA said it was alarmed that a trained soldier was deployed to function as a guard in a private estate, asking under what constitutional or operational framework military personnel are now assigned to perform duties traditionally reserved for licensed private security or civil law enforcement. The group warned that the creeping militarisation of civilian spaces is breeding impunity and avoidable loss of life.

According to HURIWA, the circumstances surrounding Mr. Bonny’s death remain deeply troubling. The deceased, who had reportedly gone to visit a friend, was involved in an altercation at the estate gate which, by all accounts, should never have escalated into lethal violence. HURIWA said it was unconscionable that a soldier allegedly drew a jack-knife and stabbed a civilian to death at close range, yet the Army now seeks to cloak the incident with the language of self-defence.

The association questioned the internal logic of the Army’s position, asking why, if the soldier’s life was truly under imminent threat, a jack-knife rather than a service rifle was allegedly used, and how a claim of attempted disarmament could stand where eyewitnesses reportedly insist that the soldier was not carrying a firearm at the time. HURIWA said these contradictions cast serious doubt on the credibility of the Army’s narrative and underscored the need for an independent, civilian-led investigation.

HURIWA further challenged the Army to make public any objective evidence backing its claims, including CCTV footage from the estate where the killing occurred, noting that transparency is the minimum requirement in a case involving the loss of civilian life. It warned that institutional self-clearing investigations, without public scrutiny, only deepen perceptions that the military now sees itself as judge and jury in cases of alleged abuse.

The rights group said it has already facilitated contact between the bereaved family and renowned human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, who has indicated his willingness to take up the matter. According to HURIWA, the family will formally brief counsel in preparation for legal action aimed at testing the Army’s claims before a competent court of law.

Beyond the Warri incident, HURIWA said the killing reflects a broader climate of alleged impunity within Nigeria’s security architecture. It pointed to ongoing allegations surrounding the Tiger Base facility in Owerri, Imo State, where human rights coalitions have raised grave concerns about unlawful detention practices and further alleged that the facility is being run as an organ harvesting clinic targeting young men picked up from the streets. HURIWA stressed that these allegations remain matters of serious public concern requiring urgent, independent and international investigation, not silence or dismissal by authorities.

HURIWA lamented what it described as the collapse of domestic accountability mechanisms, saying Nigerians increasingly feel abandoned by institutions meant to safeguard their rights. It described the National Human Rights Commission as weakened and ineffective in the face of mounting allegations against state actors, and accused political leadership of failing to prioritise human rights protection.

Consequently, HURIWA called on the international community, including the United Nations Human Rights Council and the government of the United States, to closely scrutinise Nigeria’s human rights record and to speak out against alleged extra-judicial killings by security agencies. The group said history has shown that firm international attention can jolt authorities into action, recalling how external pressure in the past forced official responses to grave security concerns.

HURIWA stressed that its demands are not driven by hostility to the military but by a commitment to the rule of law and the protection of innocent lives. It warned that a military perceived as excusing civilian deaths under contested claims of self-defence risks losing moral authority and public trust. Justice for Mr. Ugochukwu Oghenekaro Bonny, the group said, has now become a defining test of whether the Nigerian Army remains bound by constitutional restraint or has drifted into a culture of force without accountability.
Final appeal: the current chief of Army Staff; Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu should be conscious of leaving a legacy of human rights promotion and protection because even if his leadership builds and deliver a brand new bungalow each to the serving personnel as motivation, without the strictest adherence to the Rules of Engagement and respect for the human rights of citizens, his leadership would be considered as a failure.

As a young man myself, I appeal to this young officer, General Waidi Shaibu to quickly retrace his steps and embrace respect for human rights of citizens realistically and not as a media generated propaganda unleashed by accredited defence correspondents of newspapers in Nigeria. The Chirf of Army Staff should open up and encouraged broad-based improvements in relationships between credible CSOs and human rights organisations in Nigeria with a view to improving the rapport for which the Department of civil military affairs was created in the first place.

* EMMANUEL NNADOZIE ONWUBIKO is the founder of HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) and was NATIONAL COMMISSIONER OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF NIGERIA.