On Tuesday, August 19, 2025, the United States government expressed concerns over Nigeria’s security and justice delivery, highlighting enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and lengthy pre-trial delays in its 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, released by the Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, as reported by Naijanews.com and Peoples Gazette. The report cited Amnesty International’s claim that “dozens of young men” detained at the former SARS Awkuzu station in Anambra remain unaccounted for since SARS’s 2020 disbandment. It noted that police and security forces often abused arrest powers, holding suspects without warrants or access to lawyers, with some detained beyond legal limits, sometimes indefinitely, due to lost case files or lack of transport to court (State.gov). The report highlighted that 74% of Nigeria’s prison population awaits trial, often for years exceeding maximum sentences for alleged crimes (NCS, 2024).
The U.S. also flagged the erosion of the ₦70,000 minimum wage ($47.90/month) due to the naira’s depreciation to over ₦1,500/$1, noting exemptions for firms with fewer than 25 workers and non-enforcement in the informal sector, which employs 70–80% of workers (State.gov). It raised concerns over child marriage in northern states, where customary laws allow girls as young as 11 to marry, despite federal law setting 18 as the minimum age (Vanguard). In response, Presidential Spokesman Sunday Dare defended Nigeria’s progress, citing improved security coordination, including the arrest of two Ansaru terrorist leaders, and judicial reforms initiated at the April 2024 National Summit on Justice (Naijanews.com). Dare claimed the naira has stabilized and macroeconomic indicators show improvement, projecting further strengthening. X posts from @Naija_PR (August 19, 2025) echoed the Presidency’s stance, while @SaharaReporters criticized ongoing detentions, noting 15 #EndSARS protesters still held since 2020 (Amnesty.org).
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