Current Nigeria CPINs
The Home Office publishes Country Policy Information Notes (CPINs) on Nigeria covering actors of protection (August 2024), separatist groups South-East including IPOB (April 2026), SOGIESC (June 2025), FGM (updated 2024), trafficking of women (updated 2024), medical treatment (December 2025), and internal relocation.
The EUAA Country Guidance Nigeria 2026, published March 2026, provides parallel analysis that tribunals may consider alongside Home Office CPINs. Solicitors should cite both sources and identify where they diverge.
How to Use CPINs in Tribunal Submissions
CPINs are not binding on tribunals but carry significant weight. Solicitors should identify the relevant CPIN for the appellant's profile, extract the key findings, and address whether the appellant's individual circumstances fall within or outside the general CPIN position.
Where the CPIN supports the appellant, cite it directly. Where it does not, instruct an expert to provide independent analysis challenging the CPIN's general findings with profile-specific and locality-specific evidence.
The Expert Role Beyond the CPIN
An expert witness does not simply reproduce CPIN content. The expert's role is to provide independent, objective analysis of whether the appellant's specific profile creates a real risk, applying current field research and source citations beyond the CPIN.
Reports that merely restate CPIN findings without independent analysis are a red flag identified in the Adam Pipe October 2025 guide on expert reports in the immigration tribunal.
Challenging CPIN Findings
CPINs can be challenged with field research, updated country evidence, NGO reports, and profile-specific analysis. Common challenge areas include actors of protection (August 2024 CPIN overstates protection for LGBTQ+ and IPOB profiles), internal relocation (Lagos/Abuja viability for specific profiles), and SOGIESC (June 2025 CPIN general position vs individual risk).
Expert reports supporting CPIN challenges must cite sources to OSCOLA standards and address the Immigration Tribunal Practice Direction paragraph 10 requirements for expert evidence.