Terrorism is an existential threat all over the world. In Nigeria, national consciousness about this global threat sprang from the August 2011 suicide car bombing at the United Nations headquarters in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, necessitating the strengthening of the legal architecture for combating terrorism. In May 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari assented to the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 (“TPA 2022”) which repealed the former anti-terrorism legislation—Terrorism (Prevention) Act No. 10, 2011—and amended in 2013. This briefer analyses the provisions of TPA 2022, highlighting the innovations in the new law central to the maintenance of public order while simultaneously interrogating the effectiveness of procedural safeguards and the conditions for balancing libertarian freedoms with national security objectives. It proposes constructive alternatives for ensuring that the norms built on the rhetoric of countering terrorism strike a healthy balance with the protection of human rights, civil society, and the civic space in general.
