On this page, you will find:
To find organisations working for LGBTQI+ rights, visit our Nigeria LGBTQI+ Resources page.
For Nigeria country of origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents visit our Nigeria COI page.
Refugee protection
Click here to see the numbers and origins of refugees hosted by Nigeria.
The following sections contain information on the most important international treaties and agreements of which Nigeria is signatory, as well as national legislation relevant to the protection of refugees.
Nigeria has ratified international and regional instruments for refugee protection including the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol; as well as the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa.
Additionally, Nigeria acceded to the 1954 Convention Relating to Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness in 2011; and to the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention) in May 2012. Nigeria made a pledge at the Ministerial Intergovernmental Event on Refugees and Stateless Persons held in Geneva in December 2011 to ensure law reforms and domestication of these instruments.
Nigeria has successfully domesticated international and African refugee conventions into the National Commission for Refugees Act (NCFR Act). The NCFR Act provides the legal and administrative framework for refugee management. It also sets out guidelines for application and determination of refugee status in Nigeria; the Act prohibits the refusal of entry, expulsion, extradition or return of persons seeking refuge, until the determination of their status and a reasonable period after the exhaustion of the determination of process.
Click here to see the full guidelines of Nigeria’s NCFR act.
Legal aid organisations
Email: jamesibor@yahoo.com
James Ibor is a lawyer based in Calabar, Cross River Sate, Nigeria. He is the Executive Secretary for the NGO Basic Rights Counsel Initiative (BRC) and is currently working on the Niger Delta Child Rights Watch (NDCRW) Project funded by Safe Child Africa (http://www.safechildafrica.org) and supported by the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales.
The NDCRW Project aims to raise awareness about child abuse in the Niger Delta region by increasing the number of prosecutions of those who commit offences against children. The Child Rights Act 2003 now makes harming a child illegal and protects children by affirming their legal right to be safe from harm. James Ibor represents children in all cases of child abuse including accusations of witchcraft, physical and sexual abuse, neglect and abandonment, child trafficking, child prostitution and sexual exploitation.
Address: 13 Soji Adepegba Close, Off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos
Tel: +234 17 74 66 94 or 85 11 577 or 80 38 19 58 18
Fax: +234 14 93 93 24
Contact Person: Osaze Lanre Nosaze, Executive Director
Email: osaze.nosaze@live.com
The Civil Liberties Organisation is the foremost indigenous human rights organisation in Nigeria. It is a non-profit, non-governmental human rights initiative. Its objectives include the enhancement of human rights awareness in consonance with universally accepted norms of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Address: J.B. Daudu & Co, Gwarimpa Model City, Gwarimpa – Abuja
Tel: +234 803 786 2400 or 805 208 3909
Email: uceeh@yahoo.com
- The application must be made through the Federal Commissioner or through the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Nigeria.
- Your application will then be sent to the Eligibility Committee for processing.
- The Eligibility Committee may invite the applicant for an interview and will notify the applicant of its decision in writing. Rejected applicants will be given reasons for rejection.
- If your application is rejected, you can appeal this decision to the Refugee Appeal Board within 30 days.
- While waiting for the decision of your appeal, you are allowed to remain in the country.
Address: 9 Udo Udoma Street,
Asokoro FCT,
Abuja, Nigeria.
+(234) 09-2916667
Email: nigab@unhcr.org
UNHCR’s work for IDPs (Internally Disaplaced Persons) in Nigeria focuses on protection, shelter, non-food items such as blankets as part of the joint humanitarian response. UNHCR Nigeria also provides livelihoods support for self-reliance, cash assistance, apart from supporting water, sanitation, health and education as priority areas.
Organisations providing other support to refugees
Website
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Address: 76 Ogudu Road, Ojota, Lagos – PO Box 73630, Victoria Island, Lagos
Tel: +243 14 74 79 31or 89 80 834
Contact Person: Ms. Sindi Medar-Gould, Executive Director
Email: baobabwomen@yahoo.com
BAOBAB For Women’s Human Rights is a not for profit, women’s human rights NGO, which focuses on women’s legal rights’ issues under the three systems of law: customary, statutory and religious laws in Nigeria. BAOBAB operates from a national office in Lagos and with outreach teams in 14 states across Nigeria. These are: Adamawa, Borno, Edo, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara. The organisation works with women, legal and paralegal professionals, human rights NGOs and members of the general public. BAOBAB’s stated mission is “to promote women’s human rights principally via improving knowledge, exercise and development of rights under religious laws, customary laws and statutory laws.”
Humanitarian Care for Displaced Persons (HCFDPS) works with displaced persons and migrants (mostly Nigeria) to rebuild their lives and provide safety nets to communities and empower them with vocational and soft skills. Their priority is displaced persons and vulnerable communities.
Abuja Office
Address: International Organization for Migration
55 Hassan Musa Katsina Road, Asokoro, Abuja
Email: iomnigeria@iom.int
Lagos Office
Address: International Organization for Migration
No 1, Isaac John Street
G.R.A. Ikeja – Lagos, Nigeria
Email: iomlagosmedicalbooking@iom.int
Migration Health Assessment Centre
Locate your nearest Migration Health Assessment Centre, view destination country-specific migration health assessment requirements and procedures, and schedule your migration health assessment online:
Registration and medical examination:
Monday to Thursday: 8:30 am to 12:30 pm
Friday: 8:30 am to 10:00 am
Abuja
Address: 55 Hassan Musa Katsina Road, Asokoro, Abuja
Opening hours: Monday to Thursday: 08:00 am – 05:30 pm, Friday: 08:00 am – 12:00 pm
Tel: 09 460 58400
Email: iomabujamedicalbooking@iom.int
Lagos
Address: No. 1, Isaac John Street (at the corner of Isaac John Street and Oduduwa Way) G.R.A., Ikeja, Lagos
Opening hours: Monday to Thursday: 07:30 am – 04:30 pm, Friday: 07:30 am – 11:00 am
Tel: 01 465 6600
Email: iomlagosmedicalbooking@iom.int
Benin City
Address: No. 1 FREDERICK ILEKHUOBA CLOSE, Off Boundary Road, GRA, Benin City
Call Centre Number: 01 465 6600 / 09 460 58400 (Landline)
Phone Numbers: +234(0) 09035428400
Opening Hours: Monday to Thursday from 08:00 am – 5:30 pm, Friday 08:00 am -12:00 pm
Email: iombenincitymedicalbooking@iom.int
IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, be they refugees, displaced persons or other uprooted people. The IOM Constitution gives explicit recognition to the link between migration and economic, social and cultural development, as well as to the right of freedom of movement of persons.
Nigeria LGBTQI+ Resources
Find organisations working for refugee LGBTQI+ rights in Nigeria.
Nigeria COI
Find Nigeria Country of Origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents.
We are always looking to expand the resources on our platform. If you know about relevant resources, or you are aware of organisations and/or individuals to include in our directories, please get in touch.
Last updated May 2023