Nigeria
Practice Relating to Rule 25. Medical Personnel
Nigeria’s Operational Code of Conduct (1967) states: “Hospital staff and patients should not be tampered with or molested.”
Nigeria’s Manual on the Laws of War states:
Medical personnel engaged exclusively in the search and collection of the wounded and sick and the prevention of disease, the staff engaged in the administration of hospitals and medical units … are also entitled to protection.
Nigeria’s Military Manual (1994) provides: “Specifically protected persons … recognised as such must be respected. Specifically protected persons are to be allowed to fulfil their activity unless the tactical situation does not permit.”
Nigeria’s Soldiers’ Code of Conduct states: “Medical personnel must be respected.”
According to the Report on the Practice of Nigeria, it is Nigeria’s
opinio juris that the prohibition of attacks on medical personnel and objects is part of customary international law.
Nigeria’s Manual on the Laws of War states that the protection of medical establishments is not forfeited “merely because medical personnel are armed for self-defence”.