Wednesday,
January 18, 2018 /11:40AM /European Parliament
The European Parliament,
– having
regard to its previous resolutions on Nigeria,
– having
regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of 1981, ratified by
Nigeria on 22 June 1983,
– having
regard to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in particular
the provisions on the protection of freedom of religion contained in Chapter IV
on the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion,
– having
regard to the Council conclusions of 12 May 2014 on abductions in Nigeria and
of 9 February 2015 on elections in Nigeria,
– having
regard to President Muhammadu Buhari’s address to the European Parliament of 3
February 2016,
– having
regard to the decision to add Boko Haram to the EU list of designated terrorist
organisations by means of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 583/2014
of 28 May 2014 amending for the 214th time Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002
imposing certain specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons
and entities associated with the Al Qaida network, which entered into force on
29 May 2014,
– having
regard to the statement by Vice-President of the Commission / High
Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR)
Federica Mogherini of 7 May 2017 on the release of girls kidnapped by Boko
Haram in Nigeria,
– having
regard to the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and
of Discrimination based on Religion and Belief of 1981,
– having
regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966,
ratified by Nigeria on 29 October 1993,
– having
regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989, ratified by
Nigeria in April 1991,
– having
regard to the second revision of the Cotonou Agreement, ratified by Nigeria on
27 September 2010,
– having
regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,
– having
regard to the awarding of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom
of Thought to human rights defender Hauwa Ibrahim in 2005,
– having
regard to the outcome of the Nigerian presidential elections of March 2015,
– having
regard to Rules 135(5) and 123(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas
the UN estimates that Nigeria, Africa’s most populous and culturally diverse
nation (its population having grown from 33 million in 1950 to about 190
million today), is set to become the world’s third most populous country, just
behind China and India, by 2050;
B. whereas
Nigeria is home to Africa’s largest Christian population;
C. whereas
Nigeria’s population is almost evenly split between Muslims and Christians;
D. whereas
an estimated 30 million Christians live in northern Nigeria, forming the
largest religious minority in the predominantly Muslim region;
E. whereas
the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in
November 2017 that in northeastern Nigeria 8.5 million people were in need of
lifesaving assistance and that 6.9 million people were targeted for
humanitarian assistance in 2017;
F. whereas
the country’s Middle Belt has suffered years of economic and political tension
between ethnic and religious communities, with the recent violence fuelled by
competition for power and access to land between pastoralist and farming
communities;
G. whereas
peace and stability in northern Nigeria have been threatened by the continuing
attacks, murders and kidnappings perpetrated by the Islamist group Boko Haram
since 2009;
H. whereas
over 20 000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced,
including to neighbouring countries, since Boko Haram began its attacks;
I. whereas
in April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from their school in Chibok,
northern Nigeria, of which some have since been reunited with their families,
but a significant number are still being held in an unknown location;
J. whereas
women and girls have been enslaved, raped, radicalised and forced into
‘marriages’ by Boko Haram; whereas many survivors of these horrific experiences
are now pregnant by their rapists;
K. whereas
the security forces have also been accused of interrupting peaceful protests
and meetings, in some cases with violence and excessive use of force;
L. whereas
numerous kidnappings of clergy and nuns have taken place in the past year,
including that of six Sisters of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus Convent who
were abducted in Iguoriakhi on 13 November 2017, and were recently released;
M. whereas
over 14 people were killed, and many others wounded, in Omoku as they were
returning from a church service in the early hours of New Year’s Eve; whereas
the number of Christian and Muslim deaths has been rising of late, which
underlines the worrying situation of both faiths in the country;
N. whereas
pastoralist-farmer conflicts in Nigeria have increased in number, spread and
intensified over the past decade and today pose a threat to national survival;
whereas thousands of people have been killed, communities destroyed and a huge
number of farmers and pastoralists have lost their lives and property in an
escalation of killings and destruction that is not only destroying livelihoods
but also affecting national cohesion;
O. whereas
in the long term, pastoralism is under threat owing to high population growth,
expansion of farming, and loss of pasture and cattle routes; whereas at the
same time, pastoralism cannot come to an end or be prohibited, as there are
strong cultural, political and economic reasons for its existence;
P. whereas
the International Criminal Court (ICC) has stated that there are reasonable
grounds to believe that crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome
Statute have been committed in Nigeria by Boko Haram, including murder and
persecution;
Q. whereas
Nigeria has a complex legal system, which combines common, customary and
religious law and several tiers of government, which creates a challenging
environment for the proper enforcement of human rights;
R. whereas
accountability, justice, the rule of law and the fight against impunity
constitute essential elements underpinning peace and conflict resolution,
reconciliation and reconstruction efforts;
S. whereas
the death penalty is legal in Nigeria; whereas in 2016, Nigeria sentenced 527
people to death, three times more than in 2015; whereas there has been a de
facto moratorium on the death penalty since 2006, although this moratorium was
broken in 2013 and 2016;
T. whereas
Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission has announced that
presidential and national assembly elections will be held on 16 February 2019;
U. whereas
the organisation Transparency International ranked Nigeria 136th out of 175
countries in its Corruption Perceptions Index 2016;
V. whereas
pursuant to Article 8 of the Cotonou Agreement, the EU engages in regular
political dialogue with Nigeria on human rights and democratic principles,
including ethnic, religious and racial discrimination;

1. Is
deeply concerned by the increasing interethnic conflicts between pastoralists
and farmers in the Middle Belt region which have increased the security
challenges already facing Nigeria, and regrets the lack of real progress in
addressing these issues;
2. Strongly
condemns the increase in violence against Christians and Muslims in Nigeria,
including the targeting of religious institutions and worshippers, such as the
recent killing of at least 48 Christians in villages across Plateau State and
the bombing of a mosque in Mubi, northeast Nigeria, in which at least 50 people
died; calls on President Buhari and the Nigerian Government to increase their
efforts to bring the violence to an end, defend Nigerians’ right to worship
freely and protect the rights of all their citizens more rigorously, in line
with the country’s laws and Constitution; extends its condolences to the
families of all the victims of the ongoing violence; recalls, in addition, that
until the 1970s, the coexistence of herdsmen and farmers was peaceful and
regrets that the current violence, which concerns access to land and has been
exacerbated by the disappearance of effective mediation schemes, is being
depicted as a religious conflict, which oversimplifies the issue;
3. Urges
the Government to focus on upholding human rights and dignity in all policies
to ensure peaceful coexistence among citizens irrespective of their religion,
beliefs and political affiliations;
4. Urges
the Nigerian Government to negotiate a national policy framework that would
protect the interests of both farmers and herders and calls on international
partners to increase investment in preventing and resolving intercommunal
conflicts between cattle pastoralists and farmers by supporting cooperation
through shared economic and natural resource management initiatives;
5. Deplores
the ongoing violence and attacks in northern Nigeria, whose targets have been
Christian communities; notes that Boko Haram has attacked Muslim, Christian and
other faiths indiscriminately;
6. Notes
that the Nigerian military has recaptured territory from Boko Haram and
arrested some of its members, but that the Government’s non-military efforts to
stop Boko Haram remain nascent;
7. Urges
the Buhari Government to defend its citizens from terrorism, but insists that
such actions must be conducted in full accordance with respect for human rights
and the rule of law; commends the progress made by the Buhari Government on the
security challenges facing Nigeria and in addressing corruption; offers its
support in achieving this objective and in seeking to sever the link between
corrupt practices and terrorism;
8. Recalls,
however, that the actions taken by the Government against Boko Haram and other
terrorist organisations should not fuel the violence further; calls, in this
regard, for a reform of the Nigerian state security forces, including the
police, and for the conduction of investigations into those who are responsible
for any human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary
arrests and extortion-related abuses;
9. Urges
the Nigerian Government to address the root causes of the violence by ensuring
equal rights for all citizens and non-discriminatory legislation;
10. Condemns
sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls and the targeting by
Boko Haram and other terrorist groups of women and children for abductions,
forced marriage, rape and use as suicide bombers; expresses concern, in
addition, that inadequate humanitarian assistance in refugee camps has also led
to high levels of exploitation and sexual abuse;
11. Calls
on the Nigerian authorities to provide the necessary psychosocial support to
the victims of the scourge of radicalisation, especially women, children and
young people, before reintegrating them back into society; calls for joint
efforts by all international actors on the prevention of radicalisation leading
to violent extremism and the development of rehabilitation and
de-radicalisation programmes;
12. Encourages
greater progress in addressing the corruption which has blighted Nigerian
society for decades and believes that without tough action to eradicate such
crimes the Buhari Government’s wider political, economic and social agenda
cannot be fulfilled; urges the Nigerian authorities to strengthen measures to
tackle corruption and stresses that failure to do so will mean more years of
poverty, inequality, reputational damage, reduced external investment and fewer
life opportunities for its citizens; recalls that corruption leads to dissatisfaction
with public institutions and the decreased legitimacy of governments in the
eyes of the citizens;
13. Calls
for improvements to the efficiency and independence of Nigeria’s judiciary
system to enable the effective use of criminal justice to combat violence,
terrorism and corruption;
14. Urges
the Nigerian authorities to implement a moratorium on the death penalty with a
view to its abolition;
15. Reminds
the Government of Nigeria of its responsibility to ensure that elections are
held in conformity with its international human rights obligations and to take
all necessary measures to ensure free, transparent and credible elections;
16. Calls
on the Commission, the European External Action Service (EEAS) and Member
States to monitor the reintegration of Nigerian returnees from Libya and to
ensure that the EU funding foreseen is spent effectively; calls on the
Commission to keep Parliament informed about these reintegration measures;
17. Instructs
its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the
European External Action Service, the Vice-President of the Commission / High
Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the
governments and parliaments of the Member States, the President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, the Chairperson of the African Union, the ACP-EU Joint
Parliamentary Assembly, the Pan-African Parliament and representatives of the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

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