Nigeria, Feb. 26 -- European parliamentarians deliberating on the human rights situation in Nigeria Thursday in Brussels heard stories of worsening abuses, an unattended climate crisis, a national gendered environment that under-privilege women, an absence of accountability on violations of religious freedom, and a choking ecosystem that constrains media freedom.

At a public hearing organised by the human rights committee of the EU parliament headed by Belgian politician, Marie Arena, Chidi Odinkalu, senior team manager at the Africa Programme of the Open Society Foundation and former Chairman of the Governing Council of Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission, called attention to numerous instances of extra-judicial killings and viol...