Stories from UNODC Nigeria

World AIDS Day: UNODC partners with the Government of Nigeria to launch key documents for HIV prevention, treatment, care, and referral in custodial centres

Abuja, 30 November 2021-End inequalities, End AIDS, End pandemics - the theme of this year's World AIDS Day - is coming at no better time for the key population groups who, without doubt, have greater burden of HIV due to their vulnerability and inadequate access to HIV prevention and treatment services. Although key populations, such as people in detention and people who use drugs and their partners make up only a small fraction of the general population, they contributed about 65% of new HIV infections worldwide in 2020. Due to exclusion, lack of access to services, stigmatization, and discrimination, key populations continue to experience an increased risk of contracting HIV and acquiring immunodeficiency. In Nigeria, for example, key populations constitute only 2% of the population yet they account for 11% of new HIV infections. In 2020, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the agency of the UN with the mandate to promote HIV prevention, treatment, and care among people in prisons, and people who use drugs, found that on average people in detention were twice as likely to live with HIV/AIDS than the general population with women being disproportionally more affected. [Read More]

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Combating Incitement to Violence while Protecting Free Speech

On 23-25 November UNODC's Country Office in Nigeria (CONIG) hosted, with the support of the European Union, a workshop in Abuja on incitement to terrorism through the media, which was attended by a diverse group of Nigerian media and national security professionals.

With over 103 TV stations, more than 40 nationally distributed newspapers and 277 radio stations, the volume of information disseminated through Nigeria's numerous media platforms can be quite overwhelming.

In addition to traditional media, there are an estimated 81 million internet users in Nigeria, 85% of whom are active on WhatsApp, 78% on Facebook, 53% on YouTube, and, until the platform was suspended by the government, 30% on Twitter.

While media outlets and online platforms can be effective mediums for disseminating timely and accurate information and commentary, they can of course also be used to spread destabilizing narratives, to promote fake news, and even to encourage the commission of terrorist acts and extremist violence.[Read More]

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UNODC handover resource tools to Ministry of Justice SGBV Prosecution Hub to fight and prosecute rape and other sexual violence related offences

 Abuja, 26 November 2021-The incidence of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) since COVID-19 pandemic has risen in epidemic proportions. Data from Federal and State Ministries for Women Affairs in Nigeria, on incidents of SGBV across 23 States in Nigeria indicates that 781 incidents were reported in the first two weeks of April 2020, showing a dramatic increase of 149% in the number of SGBV cases. Many victims and survivors of this heinous crime require targeted and tailored psycho-social support, economic empowerment, social protection as well as access to gender and trauma sensitive legal assistance to help them rebuild their lives. While addressing issues of sexual and gender-based violence, including in connection with conflict has been a priority for the Nigerian government with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria declaring a state of emergency on the rising number of GBV cases in July 2020, the justice arm of the response remains the weakest, with few reported cases ending up in successful convictions.[Read More]

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