Facts in Q&A format

In December 2013 the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act (2013) was passed in Nigeria (effective January 2014). The Act makes it illegal for same-sex individuals to marry, enter into a civil union, or gain entitlement to any benefits of a valid marriage. Any marriage or union entered into legally ou...

In its 2020 State Sponsored Homophobia report, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) found that, as of November 2020, there is full legal certainty that the death penalty is the legally prescribed punishment for consensual same-sex sexual acts in Nigeria and...

No. Nigeria’s Criminal Code Act (2004) contains provisions criminalising consensual same-sex sexual acts (framed as “carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature”). It imposes a penalty of imprisonment of 14 years. ...

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) is ranked the most corrupt entity in Nigeria. ...

There is one police officer – excluding administrative staff – for every 405 people. The ratio is based on Statistics South Africa's mid-year population estimates (59.6 million in 2020) and the number of non-administrative police (147,070) given in the South African Police Service's 2019/20 annu...

In 2019/20, a recorded 392 people died as a result of police action. In the 2018/19 financial year, the number was 393. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate defines death as a result of police action as the death of any person caused or believed to have been caused by a member of the ...

In 2020, the Global Terrorism Index ranked Nigeria third out of 138 countries. The index defines terrorism as “the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non-state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation”. ...

According to the Department of Social Development, more people contacted the Gender-Based Violence Command Centre during the first two months of South Africa’s Covid-19 lockdown. The government established the call centre to “provide immediate care, support and counselling to victims of...

The police recorded 21,341 murders in 2019/20. The murder rate– calculated based on the national mid-year population estimates (59.6 million in 2020) – was 35.8 per 100,000 people in 2019/20, a 1.7% decrease from the rate in 2018/19 which was 36.4 per 100,000 people. ...