State, citizens and human rights violations: the Nigerian experience

The purpose of any state is for the preservation of property of their citizens that is, lives, liberties and estates. State and government exist to provide security, welfare, well being and happiness to the citizens living in it territorial jurisdiction. This can be achieve through maintenance of law and order, promotion of awareness of human rights. In any form, human rights violations by individual, group of individuals or state is considered as a crime against humanity. Human rights violations include the abuse of the rights to life, lack of welfare, sexual harassment, and molestation of young girls, extra-judicial killings, displacement of people from their communities and places of their origin. Rights to education, shelter and health also violated. Therefore, the paper sought to examine the dynamics of state and human rights violations by using mainly secondary sources of data. Using Nigeria as a reference point. The paper argued that, despite that Nigeria is a signatory to international human rights charters and conventions, but still human rights violation is on the increase in the country, finally the paper suggests how human rights violations will be put to an end in the country.