By Rabiat Uthman

Every June 26, the world pauses to observe the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture – a day dedicated not only to remembering survivors but also to renewing the global commitment to end torture in all its forms.

Yet in Nigeria, where the Anti-Torture Act has existed for nearly a decade, the reality for many victims tells a different story.

SolaceBase findings show that while the law clearly prohibits torture and outlines protections for detainees, implementation remains weak, leaving many victims trapped between legal promises and lived experiences.

For some, torture leaves visible wounds. For others, the body remembers long after the bruises disappear.

On August 3, a businessman, Abba Usman, a Kano resident,  left home expecting an ordinary day.

He was with a friend and his sales boy around Kofar Gadan Kaya when police officers intercepted them.

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Nearby, Sagir Hassan Usman was heading to work when events took an unexpected turn.

According to Sagir, officers suddenly grabbed him by the waist and pushed him into a vehicle already carrying several detainees.

Inside the vehicle, those arrested were allegedly ordered to hold onto one another while officers struck them.

By the time they arrived at the police station, both men said they sensed officers believed they had apprehended dangerous suspects.

“They treated us as if we wanted to overthrow the government,” one of them recalled.

The men maintained they had no idea why they were arrested and insisted that the Nigerian flags found in the vehicle did not belong to them.

What followed, according to their account, remains difficult for them to discuss.

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They described being beaten repeatedly. One detainee, they said, was assaulted until he stopped crying. Others had their heads knocked against walls.

Eventually, they were moved into a crowded detention cell. The cell, they recalled, already held about seventy people.

There was little ventilation. No food, no drinking water, no functioning toilet.

The smell of urine filled the space.

Both men told SolaceBase they had never entered a police station before that day.

What remained with them after release, they said, was not only physical pain but disappointment, fear and emotional exhaustion.

What the law says

Nigeria’s Anti-Torture Act, signed into law in 2017, was designed to outlaw torture completely.

According to Usman Umar Fari, outgoing Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Kano Branch, the law defines torture broadly and goes beyond physical assault.

He explained that torture includes acts such as severe beatings, electric shocks, burns, forced feeding and other forms of intentional suffering. But physical violence is only one part of the picture.

Fari noted that prolonged and unnecessary detention without trial, as well as overcrowded detention conditions, may also amount to torture under Nigerian law.

“When over a hundred people are kept in one cell with one or two toilets, the law recognises that as degrading treatment,” he said.

He added that the Anti-Torture Act requires every law enforcement institution to establish internal mechanisms dedicated to preventing torture and ensuring compliance.

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According to him, those structures remain largely invisible in practice.

Police insist due process exists

The Kano State Police Command rejected claims that torture is part of its operational procedures.

Speaking to SolaceBase, the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, said suspects are entitled to constitutional protections.

According to him, detainees have the right to make statements in the presence of legal representatives, receive medical attention where necessary, and must not be held beyond the constitutionally recognised period of 24 to 48 hours without being charged or released.

He maintained that both Nigeria’s Constitution and the Anti-Torture Act are clear.

“Torture is not allowed,” he said.

Between the law and reality

Despite these assurances, rights advocates argue that a gap remains between official policy and what victims continue to describe.

Fari explained that even where courts determine a confession was obtained through torture, legal remedies may not always provide meaningful compensation.

In some instances, victims receive only a declaration that their rights were violated without financial redress.

However, the outgoing NBA Chairman noted that victims can approach the National Human Rights Commission, which has powers to investigate complaints, recommend remedies and register its decisions at the Federal High Court for enforcement.

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world in marking another International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, one question remains unresolved:

If the law forbids torture, why do so many victims still say they experience it?

Until enforcement becomes as visible as the legislation itself, the distance between legal protection and human experience may remain the real story behind June 26.