HUMAN RIGHTS AND NATIONAL SECURITY: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE NIGERIAN PERSPECTIVE

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Author

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Department of Law

HUMAN RIGHTS AND NATIONAL SECURITY:  A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE NIGERIAN PERSPECTIVE

ABSTRACT

It is widely and almost universally acceptable that the significance of Human Rights in any democratic society has been given wide recognition. While some societies find consolation in entrenching fundamental human rights in their constitutions, as a means of guaranteeing the enforcement of these rights other societies prefer to adopt other means all aimed at guaranteeing the rights. Whatever method of guarantee adopted it must be observed that the enforcement of these rights deepens more on the government in power than on the critical entrenchment of these rights in constitutional documents. This is so because any government determined   to abandon the democratic course will find ways of violating the rights. It is therefore my intention in choosing this topic to highlight and critically appraise those instances, where the government has found ways of violating human rights by justifying their actions on grounds of National security, National interest, Public interest, Public policy and so on. National Security itself, as an instrument limiting Human Rights, has a legal validity and is desirable if properly and genuinely exercised because it helps to check the excesses of Human Rights and ensure that the society as a whole is in peace and  order. But the annoying situation is where the governments of (National Security, National interest) to perpetrate injustice. An example of such situation was buttressed in the case of AGBAJE V C. O. P. (1969) NMLR 176, where the court held that Agbaje was unlawfully detained by the police complying wife an order made by the Inspector General of police acting under powers conferred on him by the Armed Forces and police (special powers) Act 1967.        Finally; the topic in discourse is based on incisive jurisprudential evaluation of the extent to which the government enforce human rights visa-viz the nations security. And it contains in improving our study and knowledge in that aspect of our law.

TABLE OF STATUTES

The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights Cap 10 LEN1990.

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.