Nigeria

The most serious human rights abuses included those committed by Boko Haram, which conducted numerous attacks on government and civilian targets that resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries, widespread destruction, the internal displacement of an estimated 1.8 million persons, and the external displacement of 220,000 Nigerian refugees to neighboring countries. In its response to Boko Haram attacks, and at times to crime and insecurity in general, security services perpetrated extrajudicial killings, and engaged in torture, rape, arbitrary detention, mistreatment of detainees, and destruction of property. The country also suffered from widespread societal unrest, including ethnic, regional, and religious violence. Other serious human rights problems included vigilante killings; prolonged pretrial detention, often in facilities with poor conditions; denial of fair public trial; executive influence on the judiciary; infringement on citizens' privacy rights; and restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and movement. There were reports during the year of official corruption; violence against women and children, including female genital mutilation/cutting; infanticide; sexual exploitation of children; trafficking in persons; early and forced marriages; discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; discrimination based on ethnicity, regional origin, religion, and disability; forced and bonded labor; and child labor. The government took few steps to investigate or prosecute officials who committed violations, whether in the security forces or elsewhere in the government, and impunity remained widespread at all levels of government. Although President Buhari's administration began initial steps to curb corruption, authorities did not investigate or punish the majority of cases of police or military abuse. Boko Haram perpetrated numerous attacks, often directly targeting civilians. The group, which recruited and forcefully conscripted child soldiers, carried out bombings--including suicide bombings--and attacks on population centers in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kano, Plateau, and Yobe States. In some cases, the group employed women and children as suicide bombers. The government investigated these attacks but prosecuted only a few members of Boko Haram. Large-scale abductions by the group continued. According to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), between November 2014 and February, Boko Haram abducted more than 500 women and 1,000 children from one local government area in Borno State alone. The group subjected many abducted women and girls to sexual and gender-based violence, including forced marriages and rape. According to an NGO, the vigilante group known as the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), which emerged in 2013 in Borno State and was based in Maiduguri, continued to recruit and use, sometimes by force, child soldiers. The government prohibited the recruitment and use of child soldiers and issued official statements condemning the practice. Nonetheless, the Borno State government continued to provide financial and in-kind resources to the CJTF, which at times aligned with the military in operations against Boko Haram. Organized criminal forces in the southern and middle parts of the country committed abuses, such as kidnappings. Violence between farmers and herders in the north-central states claimed hundreds of lives during the year.