PRESERVING LIFE OR PERMITTING LETHAL FORCE?: A SCRUTINY OF THE RIGHT TO LIFE UNDER NIGERIA'S TERRORISM (PREVENTION AND PROHIBITION) ACT, 2022.

In the fight against terrorism, the Nigerian state is entrusted with a dual, and often conflicting, constitutional mandate, the duty to protect the lives and property of its citizens from the scourge of insurgency and banditry, and the obligation to respect, protect, and fulfil the fundamental rights of every individual within its jurisdiction, including those suspected of heinous crimes. At the pinnacle of these rights lies the right to life, solemnly guaranteed by the Constitution. However, this right is not absolute as the Constitution itself permits its derogation, in narrow circumstances, notably for the defence of any person from unlawful violence or for the defence of property. It is within this constitutional dabble that counter-terrorism operations unfold, where the state's power to use lethal force clashes with its primary duty to preserve life. The enactment of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act (‘TPPA'), 2022, is an effort to provide a unified and comprehensive legal framework to combat these present threats. The Act arranges catalogues of terrorist offences, establishes bodies like the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, and empowers security agencies with efficient investigative and enforcement powers. Yet, for all its utility in proscribing and punishing terrorist conduct, the Act is profoundly silent on the fundamental question of what precise legal conditions admits the state’s use of lethal force against its own citizens in the course of counter-terrorism operations. This statutory silence creates an ambiguity, effectively delegating the regulation of life-and-death decisions to the discretion of security operatives, rather than anchoring it in clear, justiciable statutory standards. This article argues that the Act, while a necessary instrument for national security, creates a dangerous legal gap concerning the use of lethal force and fails to provide a statutory framework that adequately safeguards the constitutional right to life against arbitrary deprivation.