Temitope Adeyemi, a 40-year-old resident of Otta, a town bordering Lagos and Ogun states, found himself ensnared in a distressing incident that unfolded on a fateful day in 2018 — May 2.

Following a late-night church rehearsal during which he skillfully played the guitar until 3:00 a.m., Mr Adeyemi, fatigued but unsuspecting, decided to make a brief stop at a friend’s gaming shop on his way home. 

Little did he know, this seemingly innocuous detour would plunge him into a nightmarish sequence of unfounded accusations and violent confrontations. 

Accused by a local woman of masterminding a robbery, Mr Adeyemi faced allegations of donning a green shirt and brandishing a firearm at her residence on a Monday at 10:00 a.m. 

While vehemently asserting his innocence, he maintained that he had spent that particular day at home, engaged in laundry chores, with his mother and her visitor as witnesses. 

During the scuffle, the woman’s husband lent credence to the claims. Teetering on the edge of a potential lynching, Mr Adeyemi was fortunate to have a vigilant youth leader intervene, redirecting the chaos towards the local police station. 

However, upon arrival at the police station, Mr Adeyemi was promptly detained and subjected to brutal beatings, leaving him with visible wounds. 

“A mob nearly lynched me, but the youth leader, who witnessed the incident, intervened, insisting that all parties resolve the matter at the police station,” Mr Adeyemi recounted. “We were taken to the nearest police post in Ami Kanle, then transferred to Alagbado police station, where we met with the divisional police officer (DPO). Despite no investigation, the DPO demanded I confess to the crime, along with the whereabouts of the alleged gun and laptop.” 

Before long, the woman’s husband declared he had contacted the infamously brutal but now defunct special anti-robbery squad (SARS) operatives. Mr Adeyemi was swiftly transported, blindfolded and handcuffed to the federal SARS station in Ikeja, where he was coerced into writing a statement under duress, court records later showed.

“I was handcuffed, tied to a high table, and mercilessly beaten by the officers,” Mr Adeyemi stated. “They relentlessly demanded information about the purported gun and assaulted me, leaving me with numerous injuries. Despite my protests of innocence, they demanded a hefty ransom for my release.” 

Refusing to yield to extortion, Mr Adeyemi’s father chose to pursue justice through legal means, rejecting the corrupt demands. Eventually, albeit slowly, the wheels of justice began to turn in Adeyemi’s favour.

Mr Adeyemi soon found himself before Samuel Ilori High Court, where he faced criminal charges. He was subsequently confined within the foreboding walls of Kirikiri Medium Prison over two felony charges. 

However, his narrative took an unexpected twist: One of the charges against him said he, alongside unidentified accomplices, armed with a pestle, had stolen valuables totalling N360,000, including a Samsung cell phone, an Oppson handset, and a laptop by LG, all belonging to Funke Ayegboka. 

The charges are highly punishable under Section 297 (2) (a) (b) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. In a stroke of luck, Mr Adeyemi’s fortunes improved. A fortuitous encounter with a social activist, whose exposé in The Punch newspaper had captured the court’s attention, became the beacon of hope that eventually led him out of his predicament.

Subsequently, Mr Adeyemi was absolved of all charges and liberated from the grasp of false accusations.

Beaten to pulp

An investigation by The Gazette into this record and several other cases involving multiple security and law enforcement bodies across Nigeria has found that Mr Adeyemi was far from alone in facing brutality and manipulated justice. If anything, his acquittal record stands alone among those The Gazette examined because of the rarity of exonerating files of victims.

In October 2020, Ganiyu Rafiu was passing through Oniwire Junction in Lagos when he encountered military personnel. They stopped him and questioned his choice of attire—a T-shirt bearing a military camouflage design.

What began as a simple inquiry escalated into a violent confrontation. The soldiers, perhaps misunderstanding the significance of the camouflage design, subjected Mr Rafiu to a brutal round of beating, resulting in severe injuries, including broken jaws.

Despite Mr Rafiu’s attempt to justify wearing the T-shirt as a way of appearing “gallant” for his position at a private security firm in Lagos, his explanation failed to quell the anger of the officers. 

Subsequently, he was forcefully taken into a military patrol van and transported to the military police base, where he remained confined for a duration of two weeks.

Following the assault, the 32-year-old widower found himself accused of impersonation by the military. Throughout his detention, he was denied contact with his family. 

Recalling his experience in a recent interview with Peoples Gazette, he described being subjected to severe physical abuse. “I was beaten to a pulp,” he recounted. “The first police officer to approach me struck me in the head with a chain that was used to hold a motorcycle. Before I knew it, the Military Police from the Air Force base arrived and took me away with their patrol van to their base.” 

However, Mr Rafiu’s suffering didn’t end there. He was subsequently transferred to the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) office of the Lagos State Police Command, where he spent an additional two weeks in police custody for impersonation before being brought to court. 

This harrowing experience highlights yet another instance where security agents blatantly disregard existing laws prohibiting torture.

Torture, law enforcement opium

Torture is a global human rights violation that has remained prevalent in Nigeria. This act is largely perpetrated by law enforcement officers who are paradoxically saddled with protecting citizens and upholding their civil rights.

Because the practice has endured for decades, from colonial times, Nigeria has several laws and is also a signatory to many international laws that prohibit torture. For instance, Section 34 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution prohibits torture as it guarantees the rights to the dignity of the human person.

Also, the Nigerian government ratified the UN instruments on Human Rights, such as the 1984 United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, but the impact is yet to be felt by the general public.

To further fortify statutes against law enforcement impunity, Nigeria has passed the Anti-Torture Law 2017 to address this issue. Former President Muhammadu Buhari signed this law on December 29, 2017. The law imposes a maximum 25-year prison sentence on law enforcement and security agencies that torture victims.

Similarly, Section 3 of the Act provides that there is no justification for torture. Section 8 provides for liability, while section 9 provides for punishment.

While many experts have praised these measures, the prevailing lack of awareness regarding these provisions has emerged as a significant contributor to the rising instances of torture. Rights advocates and legal professionals have voiced concerns over the numerous violations that have gone unprosecuted or unpunished in Nigeria over the years.

Experts over the decades maintained such acts often occur without regard for consequences.

Angela Ugochukwu, representing Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF), an international non-profit dedicated to human rights and justice, emphasised,

“Torture dehumanises individuals, pushing them to a breaking point where their rights are trampled upon. It’s also a major factor leading to unjust trials.”

Ms. Ugochukwu, the country director of ASF, highlighted her organisation’s commitment to advancing the principles outlined in the UN Convention against Torture, which Nigeria has ratified. 

She introduced the Procas Project, designed to promote these principles nationwide. 

She emphasised: “Since 2009, we’ve aided more than a thousand torture victims across different Nigerian states. We’re driven by the understanding that torture is strictly prohibited by both Nigerian law and international agreements to which Nigeria is a signatory.”

Enthralling technique 

Patrick Okachi, hailing from Akwa Ibom State, harboured great aspirations for his future. These dreams seemed within reach when he received a job offer in Abuja through an old friend. 

Landing a position as a cleaner at the prestigious Statement Hotel in Wuse II, one of the capital’s upscale districts, he diligently carried out his duties for two years without incident. However, fate took a sharp turn one pivotal day.

On the morning of October 27, 2022, just after his day off, 32-year-old Mr. Okachi found himself summoned by his supervisor to tidy up the chairman’s office. 

Completing the task promptly, he returned the keys to the front desk without a second thought.

Yet, as hours passed and the hotel manager, Celyna Onyekachi, commenced her shift, she approached him with a different request: to clean her office. Mr. Okachi, taken aback, firmly asserted that he had only been tasked with the chairman’s office, a fact corroborated by his supervisor.

Initially unfazed, Mr. Okachi resumed his regular duties, dismissing the incident as a routine check.

‘’I was on the night shift at the Statement Hotel. I did my shift on Saturday and took my day off on Sunday. When I resumed work on Monday, my supervisor gave me the key to clean my Chairman’s office,’’ he recalled.

“I went there to clean the office. After that, I gave the key back to my supervisor, who asked me to drop it at the reception. I did, and I gave it to Dorin, the photocopy staff. 

‘’My Madam (CEO-representative) Ms Onyekachi resumed office at 11 am and asked me who cleaned her and the Chairman’s offices. l told her I did. She asked who gave me the key. I told her my supervisor gave me the key. 

‘’She called the supervisor, asking who gave the key to me. The supervisor told her he gave me the key to go and clean the office, and she asked me to leave. I went back to my job. 

‘’There were underlying things no one told me about,’’ Mr Ockachi added. 

A week later, the hotel manager, seething with anger, confronted Mr. Okachi once again about cleaning her office. 

Firm in his stance, Mr. Okachi reiterated that he had solely attended to the chairman’s office on that particular day. In a surprising turn of events, the manager presented a video depicting an individual with a blindfold and pressed Mr Okachi to identify the person. 

However, he maintained his innocence, asserting his inability to discern the individual’s identity due to the blindfold.

In response to his steadfast denial, Mr. Okachi was promptly terminated from his position. The hotel’s head of security stripped him of his uniform and shoes and escorted him off the premises. 

To his dismay, upon reaching the reception area, he was apprehended by a group of neighbourhood vigilante security guards led by an individual named Festus, who claimed affiliation with the State Security Service (SSS).

Mr. Okachi was transported to the Katampe district, just a 12-minute car ride from the hotel. He endured a harrowing two days there. 

Vigilante officers subjected him to torture, using broom straws to inflict pain on his genitals, all in a desperate bid to extract information about an alleged theft. 

Eventually, he was handed over to the police for further investigation, his bloodshot eyes bearing witness to the ordeal he had endured.

“I was asked to remove my shoe and stand, and I did. She (the hotel manager) said it was either I die now or something will happen now. She called security, that is, the CSO, and when he came, she asked him to call his people. He did, but the number was not going through. 

“She brought out her phone and called the SSS to her office. There were five, including their boss. 

‘’When they came, they were masked in black uniforms except for the boss, who was not masked, and his name was Festus. 

‘’When Festus entered, he didn’t ask what was going on after the Madam showed him the video on her laptop, they started beating me, asking who came there, and I said I didn’t know. 

‘’The person in the video masked himself too. I told the DSS officials to go and check the time and date captured in the video so that they would know when I cleaned the chairman’s office and the time the video was recorded. 

‘’They refuse me to say anything. They pulled off my shirt and started beating me. They covered my face and took me away to a village at Katampe. They locked me up in a container, and I was beaten seriously, they also used broomsticks to poke my private part,” he said.

Two special operations agents who spoke with The Gazette said they used torture as a “fascinating tool” to cut short the time needed for interrogation.

“It is what we found fascinating to quickly let criminals confess,” an officer said under anonymity to discuss his conduct, which he said was sanctioned by his commanders. “Criminals always act as if they are smarter than everyone else.”

The second officer said torture was not the best available tool for investigation, but agents were forced to use it due to insufficient tools.

“We have no equipment and technology to outsmart criminals,” the officer said. “So we have to make them fear for their lives before they give useful information.”

Nonetheless, agents acknowledged the high chances of torturing the innocent but said they couldn’t do anything about such cases.

“This is possible, and we sympathise with them,” one of them said. But we have no better ways right now of ensuring criminals are not allowed to go free.”

Okachi’s luck

Deji Ajare, from the Sterling Law Centre, an Abuja-based non-profit organisation dedicated to human rights and law, stepped in to assist Mr Okachi in his quest for legal recourse at the Maitama Police Station District in the FCT. 

Due largely to this intervention, Mr Okachi received the necessary support and was also promptly taken to Maitama General Hospital for medical treatment.

“The hotel had asked the police to investigate alleged theft against my client, but the police also picked up the matter of torture against him because he was brought to the station with serious injuries with blood and his eyes were bruised,’’ Mr Ajare, the centre’s executive director, told The Gazette.

To ensure his client received justice, Mr Ajare petitioned the State Security Service (SSS), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Nigerian Police, and the Committee against Torture in Nigeria.

After detailing all that his client endured, the SSS and other relevant bodies declined to return his letters or take action to hold errant agents accountable.

Insufficient measures

The federal government established the National Committee Against Torture (NCAT) as a pivotal entity driving Nigeria’s efforts to eliminate torture. However, the initial committee faced challenges and controversies primarily stemming from inadequate funding from the federal ministry of justice, which oversees its operations under the attorney-general.

Sanni Ameh, the former chair of the committee and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, highlighted significant hurdles faced in fulfilling the committee’s mandate. 

He stressed that the lack of funding severely hampered their ability to execute their work plan aimed at bolstering anti-torture measures, exacerbating the situation.

In response to these challenges, the NCAT was disbanded and reconstituted in September 2022. 

The reconstitution involved bringing in new members from law enforcement agencies, civil society organizations, academia, and other stakeholders, with the goal of enhancing the committee’s effectiveness.

Observers have characterised these setbacks as indicative of the federal government’s apparent lack of political determination to fully enforce anti-torture laws across the nation.

Moreover, Ogu Ogechi, Deputy Director of Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), highlighted to The Gazette that the attorney-general bears the responsibility of establishing rules and regulations for the effective implementation of the act, especially outlined in section 12. 

Additionally, the attorney-general is tasked with educating and raising public awareness about the prohibition of torture, as stipulated in section 11 of the act.

Ms Ogechi added: “It is widely known that a National Committee Against Torture has been established at the Federal Ministry of Justice, aligning with the country’s obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.”

‘’This is a preventive mechanism that suffered serious criticism for lack of performance and failure to deliver on its very important mandate of monitoring detention facilities across the federation,” she further stated.

While commending the former attorney-general, Abubakar Malami, for strengthening the NCAT committee despite its challenges, Ms Ogechi further urged the newly established committee to ensure that education and information on issues of torture are enriched.

She also called for legislative intervention around the provision for rehabilitation of torture victims in the proposed amendment of the 2017 Act and legislative backing to the National Committee Against Torture.

Ihineme Richmond, Deputy Director of Investigation Monitoring at the National Human Rights Commission, expressed dissatisfaction with the delays in implementing the anti-torture law and its shortcomings in an interview with The Gazette.

According to Mr Richmond, one significant gap is the absence of implementation guidelines for the law, which he explained should have been provided by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

‘’It seems to me that work is ongoing, but that is yet to be done,’’ Mr Richmond, who is also a member of the anti-torture committee, said.

The director further mentioned the existence of a stakeholder version, developed by rights activists and other relevant stakeholders, which he says is anticipated to serve as a guideline for implementing the anti-torture legislation.

‘’The Anti-torture Act mandates the establishment of internal units within various security organisations. These units are tasked with bolstering enforcement efforts against torture and integrating the principles outlined in the convention against torture.’’ Mr Richmond says, noting that their objectives include raising awareness, promoting sensitisation, and enhancing knowledge.

Long toll

Data from free legal services and human rights development organisations have shown the various ways that the rights of torture victims are violated across the country.

Ms Ugochukwu told The Gazette that since 2019, ASF France has offered pro bono assistance in 1,019 cases involving victims of torture across Nigeria through its free legal service initiatives ProCAT and SAFE.

Amnesty International’s 2015 report, titled: “Stars on their Shoulders, Blood on their Hands: War Crimes Committed by the Nigerian Military,” revealed the complicity of military officers in numerous cases of torture. 

These egregious acts resulted in the enforced disappearance of hundreds, if not thousands, of Nigerians.

Furthermore, a study conducted by PRAWA as part of its Torture Documentation and Redress Scheme (TDRS) Project in March 2011 revealed disturbing trends. Out of the 176 torture victims surveyed, their ages ranged from 13 to 54, with the highest prevalence among young adults aged 26 to 30.

The research also uncovered the distressing reality that these individuals were subjected to torture primarily to extract information or confessions before their trials.

PRAWA’s investigation further exposed the existence of police officers within the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) who were specifically designated to carry out torture. These officers, unofficially known as “OC Torture” (Officer In Charge of Torture), possessed specialised skills in employing various torture methods on their victims.

One victim, Mr Rafiu, bravely shared his horrifying experience with our reporter. He recounted enduring a barrage of brutal tactics, including electric shocks, severe beatings, head injuries, waterboarding, and strikes with rifle butts, all inflicted upon him within the grim confines of SARS police cells, where information was extracted through merciless means.

More cases

Similar to Mr Rafiu’s experience, Abdulhameed Abubakar, a car wash owner in Abuja, faced a traumatic ordeal at the hands of yet another police unit, the Police Rapid Response Team (RRT).

Accused without proper investigation, Mr Abubakar, a 40-year-old father of three, found himself unjustly incarcerated for nearly four years following his arrest by the Police Rapid Response Team (RRT) in December 2017. This harrowing experience has profoundly altered the course of his life.

Mr Abubakar’s nightmare began innocently enough when he sought the assistance of his friend, Onyeka, at his car wash to lighten the workload. However, unbeknownst to him, Onyeka had become ensnared in legal troubles with the police over unrelated theft allegations.

Suspecting Mr. Abubakar’s complicity in Onyeka’s alleged activities, the police arrested him under the mistaken assumption that he was an accomplice.

“I had no knowledge of Onyeka’s legal predicament when I asked for his help,” Mr Abubakar lamented. “I simply called him to assist me with work as usual, but to my shock, he arrived with the police, and I was apprehended as his partner in crime for an offence I had no involvement in.”

Recalling his agonising ordeal in the custody of the RRT squad, he described enduring brutal torture daily for two months and being provided with only one meal a day. Eventually, he was brought before a court and subsequently remanded in a Kaduna prison.

“My hands and legs were bound, and I was subjected to daily hanging,” he recounted, revealing that the police baton relentlessly struck his legs, leaving him unable to walk properly for days.

Mr Abubakar, steadfast in his assertion of innocence throughout his ordeal, was finally brought before a court before his release from prison in September 2021.

During his unjust detention, Abubakar’s plight caught the attention of legal advocate Barrister Njokwu, who had been recommended to him. With Barrister Njokwu’s intervention, Mr. Abubakar was eventually freed in September 2021.

Taken seriously

The Gazette reached out to the Nigeria Police Force for comment on multiple occasions. Despite efforts, including letters and reminders to the Force Headquarters, no response came from the police regarding inquiries into ensuring that officers who engage in torture adhere to the law.

In interviews, Tukur Gusau, the Director of Defence Information, emphasised the military’s steadfast commitment to opposing torture, especially when perpetrated against civilians.

Mr Gusau, a major-general, emphasised a zero-tolerance policy towards such actions, affirming that personnel found guilty would face appropriate sanctions per extant code of military ethics.

Addressing concerns regarding civilian awareness and reporting incidents of torture, the official highlighted the military’s proactive efforts

Over the past seven years, the military has implemented accessible hotlines and established human rights desks across various platforms to receive complaints against personnel.

“We take allegations of torture very seriously,” Mr Gusau said. “We have circulated hotlines extensively, and we’ve opened human rights desks where complaints against any of our personnel can be lodged.”

When pressed for specific data on court-martialed personnel for torture offences, he refrained from providing exact figures but assured that cases are promptly addressed upon receipt.

“I can’t provide an exact number, but as cases come in, we handle them accordingly,” he said.

“We have zero tolerance for torture, especially against civilians,” the official reaffirmed. “If a report is confirmed, the personnel involved will face appropriate sanctions in accordance with our laws.”

Despite their prolonged stays at medium-security prison facilities in Lagos and Kaduna, respectively, Messrs Rafiu and Abubakar never received justice for the cruel treatment and torture inflicted upon them by law enforcement officers.