HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION IN NIGERIA

EXAMINATION OF THEROLE OF SECURITY AGENCIES

Abstract

This study examined the role of security agencies in the protection of fundamental human rights in Nigeria given their importance for peace, security and justice in the country. The study was anchored on the social contract theory propounded by Thomas Hobbes (1651). The study was content analyzed with critical analysis of extant literature. Data for the study were drawn from secondary sources such as articles from reputable journals, official publications and other relevant texts. Following the critical analysis of data, it was discovered among others that institutions charged with the protection of people's lives and properties in most cases shy away from their duties exposing citizens to all manners of premeditated killings going on across the length and breaths of the country and that security agents have continually denied citizens of their rights. The implication of the foregoing is that if the authorities fail to protect citizens' lives and properties, life will certainly become solitary and brutish just like in the state of nature. In view of the above findings, the following recommendations were proffered - that government should demonstrate political will to respect and protect citizens rights; that human rights education should be incorporated into the school curricula starting from the primary level to the tertiary level; that security agencies should be alive to their responsibilities by constantly providing adequate security to the people as well as their properties, etc.