Introduction

• Pages: 11-14

EASO Country of Origin Information Report - Nigeria Security Situation  11

Introduction

This report was drafted by Country of Origin Information (COI) specialists from the COI unit

listed under the Acknowledgements section.

The report aims to provide information on the security situation in Nigeria, which is relevant

for international protection status determination, refugee status and subsidiary protection.

The terms of reference can be found in Annex 3.

Methodology

Defining the terms of reference

For the assessment of the need for refugee protection and subsidiary protection, especially

taking into account Article 15(c) of the Qualification Directive (QD), the following are key

elements:

• a real risk of serious harm;

• an internal or international armed conflict;

• indiscriminate violence;

• the term civilian; and

• a serious and individual threat to life or person.

Based on various sources consulted by EASO, (2) these key elements can be broken down into

topics and/or indicators. Examples include: parties to the conflict; intensity level of the vio-

lence; nature of the violence; regional spreading of the violence; targets of the violence; risk

of collateral damage; use of arms and tactics; possibility to reach areas – security of transport

(roads and airports); and indirect effects of the violence/conflict.

Based upon a study of all the mentioned sources, a list of elements and indicators was drafted,

which served as a basis for the terms of reference (see Annex 3). In order to make a well-

informed assessment of the fear of persecution or risk of serious harm, information is needed

on these security-related elements and indicators on a regional, zonal or state level.

Members of the EASO COI Specialist Network on West Africa and of the EASO Country Guid-

ance Network gave input on the terms of reference that were finalised during a preparatory

meeting in March 2018 taking all the inputs into account.

The reference period for the security events from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data

Project (ACLED) database is from 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2018. This period is mostly

followed when presenting examples of the incidents in the regional chapters, except where

(2) The elements, topics and indicators were identified by various sources that have a different position in the legal hierarchy and provide different levels of

detail: The Qualification Directive (Recitals and articles); Case law from the Court of Justice of the EU in Luxembourg; National State Practice (National leg-

islation; National case law; National policy and first instance decision practice); Case law from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg; Opinions

of experts, academics and specialised organisations; See the following EASO publications: EASO, Article 15(c) Qualification Directive (2011/95/EU) A judicial

analysis, December 2014, url; The Implementation of Article 15(c) QD in EU Member States, July 2015, url.