The Impact of Amnesty International in the Promotion of Human Rights in Nigeria; A Critical Perspective of #EndSARS and Police Brutality (2012-2024)
This study examines the impact of Amnesty International (AI) in promoting human rights in Nigeria from 2012 to 2024, a period marked by escalating security challenges and contested democratic consolidation. Drawing on the Transnational Advocacy Networks (TANs) framework, it analyzes AI’s investigative documentation, strategic advocacy, and public mobilization in response to key crises, including the Boko Haram insurgency, military atrocities, and police brutality during the #EndSARS protests. The study employs qualitative case study methods, integrating documentary analysis of AI reports with key informant interviews and triangulation of secondary sources. Findings reveal a three-tiered pattern of impact: AI has been highly effective in information provision and agenda-setting, moderately successful in leveraging international pressure, but limited in driving domestic institutional reform. While AI’s reports have shaped international discourse, influenced diplomatic pressure, and provided evidence for accountability mechanisms, their translation into tangible changes in Nigerian governance remains constrained by state resistance, entrenched impunity, and weak judicial enforcement. The article contributes to human rights scholarship by demonstrating how transnational advocacy operates within constrained domestic environments, highlighting both the potential and limits of international NGOs in effecting structural change. It concludes with policy recommendations for strengthening transnational advocacy strategies and enhancing domestic accountability mechanisms.
Keywords: Amnesty International, Human Rights, Nigeria, Boko Haram, #EndSARS, Police Brutality, Transnational Advocacy Networks.
