European Human Rights Law and the Protection of LGBTQ Nigerians: A Comparative Study

This descriptive study compares European human rights frameworks governing the protection of LGBTQ individuals with the legislative and social reality facing LGBTQ Nigerians, in light of the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act of 2014. The EU and its member states have increasingly embedded LGBTQ rights protections within their foreign policy and development cooperation frameworks, creating friction with Nigerian domestic law and cultural norms. This research draws on secondary literature including European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) jurisprudence, EU External Action policy documents, Nigerian legislative texts, and human rights reports from organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, all published between 2020 and 2024. The study examines how European human rights norms around sexual orientation and gender identity are articulated in EU-Nigeria diplomatic exchanges and development conditionality debates, and how Nigerian LGBTQ advocacy groups navigate this international normative environment. The research adopts an explicitly comparative analytical framework, contrasting the legal protections available to LGBTQ individuals under the European Convention on Human Rights with the criminalisation framework in Nigerian law. Findings highlight significant normative tensions between European universalist human rights claims and Nigerian legal sovereignty assertions, with implications for EU-Nigeria development cooperation. Keywords: European human rights law, LGBTQ rights, Nigeria, Same-Sex Marriage Act, normative tension.