A/HRC/7/3/Add.4 page 6 Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur was invited by the Government of Nigeria to undertake a visit to the country from 4 to 10 March 2007. The visit included stops in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kaduna. 2. The Special Rapporteur held meetings with the President, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Controller General of Prisons, the Inspector General of Police, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the Solicitor General, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, as well as with State Police Commissioners and Prison Controllers. On the last day of his visit he was also received by representatives of the State Security Services. 3. The Special Rapporteur met with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kaduna and with representatives of the corporate sector. In addition, the Special Rapporteur held meetings with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the United Nations country team, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Word Health Organization (WHO), and the diplomatic corps in Abuja. 4. The purpose of the mission was twofold: to assess the situation of torture and ill-treatment in the country and to offer assistance to the Government in its efforts to improve the administration of justice, including the police and prison sector. The Special Rapporteur expresses his appreciation to the Government for the cooperation it extended to him during the visit. A primary focus of the visit was the inspection of detention facilities in the country and, in this regard, he expresses his appreciation to the Government for the respect of the terms of reference for the visit. In particular, he wishes to thank the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Controller General of Prisons (CGP) for opening up the prisons and police detention facilities to unannounced visits and permitting the Special Rapporteur to conduct private interviews with detainees. In Abuja, he visited Kuje Prison and the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Garki. In Lagos, he visited the Panti Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba. In Rivers State, visits were made to Port Harcourt Prison, the State Police Headquarters, the State Criminal Investigation Department and the Central Police Department. In Kaduna, he visited the Central Prison, the State Police Headquarters and the State Criminal Investigation Department and its Annex. 5. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the State Security Service denied him access to their detention facilities on each of the three occasions he attempted to visit.1 This constitutes a serious breach of the terms of reference agreed upon by the Government. Since he received 1 For a description of the incidents, see appendix I, below.