Nigeria has been rated poorly in the 2020 global report on political rights and civil liberty released by Freedom house.

Freedom House is an independent watchdog organisation dedicated to the expansion of freedom and democracy around the world.

In its latest report, the organisation revealed that Nigerians enjoyed partial political freedom and civil liberty in 2020.

Nigeria dropped from a previous cumulative rating of 50 per cent in 2019 to 47 per cent in 2020.

Under its ‘rule of law’ section, the report noted numerous allegations of extortion and bribe-taking within the police force ad Mr. Buhari’s regime’s disregard for the rule of law and scored it one out of possible four points. 

It scored the regime zero in the area of protecting citizens against “illegitimate use of physical force and freedom from war and insurgencies.”

The report said, “The military has been repeatedly criticised by local and international human rights groups for extrajudicial killings, torture, and other abuses, including during counterinsurgency efforts in the northeast and operations against separatist movements in the southeast.”

Explaining the reason it scored Mr. Buhari’s regime zero, Freedom House, stated, “The northeast has been affected by a resurgence in Boko Haram activity in 2019. In January, the militant group killed at least 60 people in the town of Rann in Borno State, according to Amnesty International. In April, a faction of Boko Haram loyal to the Islamic State militant group attacked a military base in Mararrabar Kimba, on the outskirts of the city of Maiduguri, killing five soldiers. 

“The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) reported that Boko Haram was responsible for 1,136 deaths in Nigeria in 2019, compared to 872 in 2018. A rolling conflict between farmers and the Fulani, a semi-nomadic Muslim ethnic group, has continued to destabilise the north of the country in 2019. 

“The Fulani have abandoned degraded grasslands in the north, coming into increased conflict with farmers as they travel south to find new grazing lands for their herds.”

On the issue of equality, it scored Nigeria one out of four marks.

Giving its reason, Freedom House said, “Despite constitutional safeguards against ethnic discrimination, many ethnic minorities experience bias by state governments and other societal groups in areas including employment, education, and housing.

“Women are subject to widespread societal discrimination regarding matters such as education and employment. Many poor families choose to send sons to school while daughters become street vendors or domestic workers. Women also face significant legal disadvantages in states governed by Sharia statutes.”