5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
December, 03 2008, 10:18am EDT
Contact:
Tel: +1-212-216-1832,Email:,hrwpress@hrw.org
Nigeria: Protect Anti-Corruption Czar
Campaigner Threatened; Government Anti-Corruption Efforts Falter
LAGOS, Nigeria
Nigeria's leading anti-corruption campaigner has in recent weeks
been subject to an escalating campaign of harassment, threats, and an
apparent attempt on his life, Human Rights Watch said today. Human
Rights Watch called on the Nigerian government to protect the
campaigner, Nuhu Ribadu, former chairman of Nigeria's Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In an interview with Human Rights Watch in Nigeria, Ribadu, a
long-serving police official, said he feared for his life and believed
the threats against him - including shots fired at him in late
September and telephoned death threats - were linked to his work at the
EFCC. "I fear for my life," Ribadu told Human Rights Watch. "I have
made a lot of enemies." He was removed from his position in December
2007 after the commission arrested and indicted on corruption charges a
powerful politician who was known to be close to the president.
"The campaign of intimidation against Mr. Ribadu appears aimed at
silencing a key voice in the crucial fight against corruption in
Nigeria," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
"The Nigerian government and President Yar'Adua need to protect Ribadu
and anyone else who dares to speak out against the corrupt and
powerful."
During his tenure at the EFCC - from 2003 to 2007 - Ribadu pursued
politically sensitive investigations into suspected corrupt activities
of powerful ruling-party officials, though the institution's
credibility was at times tarnished by its apparent selective
prosecution of political opponents of then-president Olusegun Obasanjo.
The EFCC under Ribadu indicted hundreds of individuals collectively
implicated in the theft of several billion dollars. These included a
former inspector general of police, several former state governors, and
politically influential businessmen.
Despite pledges to allow the EFCC to pursue an impartial
"zero-tolerance" effort to pursue corrupt officials, the government of
President Umaru Yar'Adua - now in its second year - has seriously
undermined the fledgling anti-corruption efforts that began under his
predecessor.
Ribadu described to Human Rights Watch the apparent attempt on his
life in late September, while he was driving from Jos to Abuja, the
capital: "At around 6:00 that morning, I noticed a car with about four
men in it following me. I stopped at a filling station and it passed
me, but some minutes later, I saw the car coming toward me from the
other direction. As the vehicle approached, a man in the back opened
fire on my vehicle with a pistol. The three bullets which hit my car
cracked a part of my windscreen, broke the side-view mirror, and hit a
side panel on the car." Ribadu was unhurt in the incident.
More recently, Ribadu said he had received credible information
about another planned attempt on his life. He also said he has received
threatening phone calls in which he is advised to "say his last
prayers." "The harassment, the intimidation is meant to put fear in me,
to break me, but I am going to stand and continue standing," he told
Human Rights Watch.
In December 2007, the EFCC sent shock waves through the political
establishment by arresting the powerful former Delta State governor
James Ibori and charging him with 103 counts of corruption, including
an alleged attempt to bribe Ribadu with US$15 million in cash to drop
the case against him. The EFCC's decision to prosecute Ibori was
notable because the former governor was widely seen as politically
untouchable. He is among the wealthiest politicians in Nigeria and is
known to be a close associate of Yar'Adua. Two weeks later, the
inspector general of police ordered Ribadu to resign and attend a
10-month police training course.
In August 2008, Ribadu was demoted from the rank of assistant
inspector general of police, on the grounds that promotions he received
while at the EFCC had failed to comply with police procedure. On
November 22 he was forcefully removed by state security agents from the
graduation ceremony that followed the course he was ordered to attend.
In November, he was officially informed of his future posting to a
regional police headquarters in Edo State, with duties that would
require working in Edo, Delta, and Bayelsa states. Ribadu firmly
believes this posting would leave him vulnerable because the powerful
former governors from all three of these states were investigated,
charged, or convicted of corruption by the Ribadu-led EFCC. Ribadu is
also a material witness in the corruption trial against Ibori, should
it take place.
Following the appointment of Farida Waziri as the new EFCC chair in
May, the commission sacked at least 12 of its top investigators.
Several were later reassigned to the states whose governors they had
investigated. In February 2008, a senior EFCC official was attacked by
armed thugs. In August, the former head of the unit investigating Ibori
was arrested and held without charge for several weeks. Judicial
personnel and other political observers interviewed by Human Rights
Watch said certain actions by the attorney general have undermined
anti-corruption efforts both in Nigeria and in the United Kingdom,
including intervening on behalf of Ibori in a British court case
involving Ibori's alleged embezzlement and money laundering of US$35
million of Delta State funds.
Although Waziri has indicted several senior-level politicians,
including three former governors and the head of the Nigerian Ports
Authority, on corruption charges, the high-profile cases initiated
under Ribadu, including that of Ibori, have been effectively stalled.
Meanwhile, the EFCC has initiated an investigation into Ribadu's
acquisition of property - a move considered by many observers to be
politically motivated. Ribadu has on several occasions publicly
declared his assets.
Nigeria, the world's eighth-largest oil exporter, suffers from
rampant government corruption and mismanagement, which has led to gross
violations of the right to basic health care and education. Despite
Nigeria's tremendous wealth, its abject poverty ranks among the worst
in the world. Public funds that could have been spent on improving the
lives of ordinary citizens have instead been squandered and stolen by members of Nigeria's political elite.
Corruption also lies at the heart of Nigeria's most pressing human
rights problems. Many politicians have used stolen government revenues
to sponsor
political violence in order to rig elections marked by violence and
fraud. Nigeria's compromised police force has consistently turned a
blind eye to these and other abuses by well-connected politicians.
Human Rights Watch is one of the world's leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.
LATEST NEWS
Trump Openly Calls for 'Clean' Extension of Spying Power Opposed by Privacy Advocates
"We won't allow President Trump and Stephen Miller to continue invading our privacy," said the ACLU.
Mar 25, 2026
President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform on Wednesday to call for a "clean" extension of a key spying power as lawmakers across the political spectrum and privacy advocates throughout the United States demand reforms before Congress passes a reauthorization bill.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) empowers the US government to spy on electronic communications of noncitizens located outside the country, without a warrant. It expires April 20. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) planned to try to push through legislation this week, but he delayed it due to a lack of support.
Trump noted Wednesday that Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) have been working to pass a clean extension. He said that "when used properly, FISA is an effective tool to keep Americans safe," and called for reauthorizing the power for 18 months.
"HOWEVER, the Critical and Common Sense Reforms that were made in the last Reauthorization of FISA must remain intact to protect the American People from abuses. Nobody understands this better than me, as I was a victim of the worst and most illegal abuse of FISA in our Nation's History, by Radical Left Lunatics who lied to the FISA Court to spy on my 2016 Presidential Campaign in their attempt to RIG the Election in favor of Crooked Hillary Clinton," the president continued.
"That is why, since the first day of my already Historic Second Term, my Administration has worked tirelessly to ensure these Reforms are being aggressively executed at every level of the Executive Branch to keep Americans safe, while protecting their sacred Civil Liberties guaranteed by our Great Constitution," Trump claimed, before trying to use his war on Iran—which has not been authorized by Congress—to make the case for a swift reauthorization.
"With the ongoing successful Military activities against the Terrorist Iranian Regime, it is more important than ever that we remain vigilant, PROTECT our Homeland, Troops, and Diplomats stationed abroad, and maintain our ability to quickly stop bad actors seeking to cause harm to our People and our Country," he said. "The fact is, whether you like FISA or not, it is extremely important to our Military. I have spoken to many Generals about this, and they consider it vital. Not one said, even tacitly, that they can do without it—especially right now with our brilliant Military Operation in Iran."
The controversial law known as FISA Section 702 is up for renewal in Congress. It allows government to spy on Americans’ communications without a warrant.Use our action center to tell Congress to reform Section 702 and end mass warrantless surveillance!
[image or embed]
— Freedom of the Press Foundation (@freedom.press) March 22, 2026 at 7:35 PM
Sharing Trump's Truth post on the social media platform X, Politico's Jordain Carney noted that "he's been telling people for a while privately this is what he wants."
Carney and her colleagues reported last month that "Stephen Miller, the influential senior White House domestic policy adviser, is a leading advocate within the administration for extending the program that lets the government collect the data of noncitizens abroad without a warrant."
Critics of a clean extension have argued that, as more than 90 groups said in a letter earlier this month, "supporting Stephen Miller's warrantless surveillance agenda would be a massive detriment to the privacy and civil rights and liberties of people in the United States."
We won't allow President Trump and Stephen Miller to continue invading our privacy.Tell Congress to refuse to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which would expand the federal government's power to secretly spy on us.
[image or embed]
— ACLU (@aclu.org) March 24, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Section 702 was last reauthorized in April 2024, during the Biden administration. Many critics of the spying power were unsatisfied with that legislation, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA).
As India McKinney, director of federal affairs at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, wrote Friday:
It's important to note RISAA was just a reauthorization of this mass surveillance program with a long history of abuse. Prior to the 2024 reauthorization, Section 702 was already misused to run improper queries on peaceful protesters, federal and state lawmakers, congressional staff, thousands of campaign donors, journalists, and a judge reporting civil rights violations by local police. RISAA further expanded the government's authority by allowing it to compel a much larger group of people and providers into assisting with this surveillance. As we said when it passed, overall, RISAA is a travesty for Americans who deserve basic constitutional rights and privacy whether they are communicating with people and services inside or outside of the US.
In the Section 702 debates over the years, critical members of Congress and advocacy groups have specifically called for a warrant requirement for Americans and closing the data broker loophole that intelligence and law enforcement agencies use to buy their way around the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, which is supposed to protect against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Reporting on the president's Wednesday push for a clean extension, The Hill highlighted that "Trump has gotten some notable lawmakers to move with him" on FISA, pointing to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), a former leader of the chamber's oversight panel, who are both supporting a clean extension.
McKinney called Jordan's shift "disappointing," and argued that "Section 702 should not be reauthorized without any additional safeguards or oversight."
She pointed to three bills—the Government Surveillance Reform Act, Protect Liberty and End Warrentless Surveillance Act, and Security and Freedom Enhancement Act—that she said are not "perfect," but "are all significantly better than the status quo."
Keep Reading
Show Less
'We Lost Everything': Hawaii Swamped by Worst Flooding in 20 Years
Experts agree that the climate emergency caused by the burning of fossil fuels is making extreme rainfall events on the islands wetter and more common, reigniting the debate about who should foot the bill.
Mar 25, 2026
Hawaii was inundated by its worst flooding in 20 years over the weekend, in another reminder of how the climate crisis disrupts the lives of ordinary people by increasing the likelihood and frequency of extreme weather events.
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green on Tuesday formally requested federal aid for a series of storms this month that he said could cost the state more than $1 billion in debris clearing and repairs to homes, roads, and infrastructure.
“These storms have impacted every county in our state and stretched our emergency response capabilities,” Green said in a statement.
Hawaii's waterlogged woes began on March 10 with the first in a series of winter Pacific rainstorms known as Kona lows. The initial storm caused upwards of $400 million in damages, including to Maui's Kula Hospital, and left the ground saturated when another storm rolled in beginning March 19, leading to what Green told Hawaii News Now was “the largest flood that we’ve had in Hawaii in 20 years."
“Should the residents just consider it an act of God and open up their checkbooks whenever this happens when the record is clear about who knew what and when they knew it?”
This second storm inundated Oahu's North Shore on Friday night, necessitating more than 230 rescues and placing 5,500 people under an evacuation order at one point, according to The Associated Press. The storm damaged hundreds of homes as well as schools, airports, and highways. All told, the two storms dumped a total of four feet of rain on parts of Oahu and Maui, Green said, as CBS reported.
"We lost everything," Oahu resident Melanie Lee told CBS News after visiting her flood-damaged home on Monday. "My children's pictures. Just real sentimental stuff. Now it's like, now where we go from here?"
The agricultural sector was also hard hit, with farmers on Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and the Big Island reporting over $10.5 million in damages, according to Honolulu Civil Beat.
Yet Friday's storm was not the end. On Monday, another downpour brought flash flooding to southern Oahu, as rain fell at a rate for 2-4 inches per hour, shocking even meteorologists.
“When you think it’s over, it’s not quite over,” National Weather Service forecaster Cole Evans told AP on Tuesday.
Oahu Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Molly Pierce told AP: “Most of us have not seen something that just keeps going like this... We feel like we keep getting punched down. But we’ll keep getting back up.”
Experts agree that the climate emergency is making extreme rainfall events on the islands wetter and more common.
As Honolulu Today reported:
The intense flooding in Hawaii highlights the growing threat of extreme weather events driven by climate change. The frequency and intensity of heavy rainfall have increased in the islands, leading to devastating impacts on infrastructure, homes, and communities.
Retired University of Hawaii professor Tom Giambelluca, who now supervises weather monitoring towers, told Honolulu Civil Beat that scientists have observed Hawaii's weather getting dryer generally, while storms tend to drop more rain that causes more flooding.
“It’s not like we never had extremes before. You know, something like this could have happened with no warming, probably,” Giambelluca said. “But these kinds of events seem to be getting more frequent.”
US Rep. Jill Takuda (D-Hawaii) told Maui Now: “We are accustomed to saying, ‘Well, this was a 100-year flood,’ right?... Well, 100-plus-year floods are happening every few years. We literally have to throw away the book in terms of the way we used to look at weather patterns in Hawaii.”
The flooding is also an example of how the impacts of climate disasters can build on each other. Some of the rains fell on Lahaina in Maui, where soil is less absorbent due to scarring from 2023's deadly climate-fueled wildfires.
“We think about evacuation routes when it comes to a fire,” Maui resident Kaliko Storer told Maui Now. “And now we say, when are we going to really sit down and talk about these (flood) controls?”
The connection between the burning of fossil fuels and the uptick in extreme weather events is reigniting the debate about who should pay for the damages from storms like those that swamped Hawaii this month.
State lawmakers are working to pass legislation that would allow insurers to recoup some storm costs from oil and gas companies directly, as Honolulu Civil Beat reported Tuesday.
"This is the third generational rain event we’ve had in the last four weeks,” state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole (D-24) said. Referring to reporting that large fossil fuels companies have known for decades about the climate-heating impacts of their products and chose to lie to the public instead of act, he added, “Should the residents just consider it an act of God and open up their checkbooks whenever this happens when the record is clear about who knew what and when they knew it?”
Hawaii is also one of several states that has sued Big Oil for climate damages.
Even as oil prices climb due to the US and Israeli war on Iran, Emily Atkin of Heated argued that disasters like Hawaii's prove that the cost is still deflated.
"This is what the true price of oil looks like: Hawaiians wading through their flooded homes while the state scrambles to find a billion dollars for cleanup," she wrote.
Keep Reading
Show Less
Trump Promised to Lower Energy Prices for Americans. He's Done the Exact Opposite
Electricity costs increased by nearly 7% last year, more than twice the rate of overall inflation, and cost Americans $123 more on average.
Mar 25, 2026
President Donald Trump ran on promises to cut energy prices "in half" within his first year in office. But according to a report released Wednesday, he's done the exact opposite, and it's expected to get much worse as oil prices soar from his war with Iran.
Electricity prices increased more than twice as fast as overall inflation in 2025, according to a fact sheet by the Groundwork Collaborative.
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, electricity costs increased by nearly 7% last year, compared with an overall consumer price index increase of 2.7%.
In January, a report by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, found that Americans spent an extra $2,120 in 2025 due to inflation across the economy. Electricity cost the average family an additional $123.
Groundwork's report attributed these price increases to Trump's aggressive tariffs, which the group said have raised the costs of building and maintaining electric grids—costs that energy companies pass directly to consumers.
It also noted the Trump administration's support for the swift build-out of artificial intelligence data centers, which have dramatically increased energy demand in places where they've been constructed.
Costs for consumers connected to America's largest power grid, PJM, for example, increased by a collective $9.4 billion last year—more than a 180% increase. Meanwhile, Bloomberg found that in areas near data centers, wholesale electricity costs had jumped by as much as 267% over the past five years.
That pinch is being felt by consumers, 66% of whom said their electricity bills increased over the past year, compared with just 5% who said they decreased, according to a poll earlier this month from Data for Progress.
Groundwork found that "rising energy prices hit working families the hardest," with those earning under $50,000 spending nearly 7% of their annual income on energy, compared with just 1.2% for those earning above $150,000, according to a 2025 report from the Bank of America Institute.
Rising costs have been a growing source of anger among voters who elected Trump to bring them down, but now give him just a 29% approval rating on the economy, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday.
It's a historic low that Trump hit for the first time this month as gas prices in the US have soared to an average of $3.98 per gallon as a result of oil price hikes caused by Trump's war with Iran, which resulted in Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route.
Groundwork noted that the pain of the war goes far beyond the pump: The price of residential heating oil is already up 35% since the war began. Meanwhile, rising diesel costs for trucks and disruptions to the global shipment of fertilizer are expected to jack up food prices.
Short of ending the war altogether, the group pointed out that Trump has options to reduce energy costs by tapping into increasingly cheap and abundant wind and solar energy.
Instead, however, the president has delayed hundreds of solar projects by introducing new review requirements that have slowed construction and backed lawsuits to gut efficiency standards.
Earlier this month, at the Trump administration's urging, a federal judge sided with 15 red states to strike down Biden administration energy standards, which were estimated to reduce costs by more than $950 per year for families living in federally funded housing.
While Trump has taken actions aimed at curbing the global fuel shock, including tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and pausing the federal gas tax, a poll from Groundwork and Data for Progress this week found that more than half of Americans, 52%, would prefer to simply see the war end rather than these emergency measures.
Keep Reading
Show Less
Most Popular