NHRC records 20% spike in human rights complaints in one month

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said it received 354,997 complaints across Nigeria in July, a 20 per cent increase compared with June.

The commission announced this at its headquarters in Abuja during August’s edition of its monthly presentation of its complaints dashboard.

Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Tony Ojukwu, noted that the dashboard offers the areas where violations are concentrated and where urgent attention is needed.

“This figure alongside insights from our Human Rights Observatory paints a sobering picture of the scale of human rights concerns Nigerians continue to face,” he said.

Among the complaints were allegations of sexual violence against children.

“We must call for attention on sexual violence against children across the country, which has come to a defining head in this past month with a record 25 sexual violence cases on children and minors from our human rights observatory,” Mr Ojukwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said.

“These are not just human rights violations but, if not managed, could have a lasting impact on the health and mental well-being of the survivors.”

Other complaints included technology-facilitated abuse such as online harassment, cyberbullying, data exploitation, digital surveillance, blackmail and extortion.

Thematic violations and resolutions

The Senior Human Rights Adviser to the NHRC, Hilary Ogbonna, while presenting the dashboard for July, said human rights violations by law enforcement agents topped the thematic chart of violations, similar to the trend recorded in June.

The NHRC said it received complaints in which women were are at the receiving ends: 3,426 cases of domenstic violence, 67 cases of sexual violence and 23 rape incidents.

Similar to the previous month, the NHRC recorded child abandonment as the top child’s rights violation, followed by children caught in custody battles.

The commission also reported resolving 10,084 cases and visited 124 custodial centres, police stations and places of detention.

Mr Ogbonna also said the commission summoned the police 26 times and visited the military ten times.

Complaints from geo-political zones

According to the dashboard, the North-central accounted for 42 per cent of complaints received, with 149,271 cases.

The North-west followed with 67,557 recorded cases, the North-east with 66,205, the South-east with 43,982, and the South-west with 14,106. The South-south recorded the lowest total which stood at 13,876.

The commission listed the top 10 states with the highest number of violations. Benue took the lead in the July report, followed by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Borno, Kaduna, Niger, Plateau, Imo, Sokoto, Bauchi and Kogi states.

Mass killings, particularly in Benue and Plateau, characterised the violations the commission recorded in July.

The dashboard recorded that 382 persons were killed and 230 kidnapped in July.

Persistent attacks on Benue’s rural communities have displaced hundreds of thousands of residents and severely disrupted local farming.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the death of 15 persons by suspected herders in Saai in the Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State on 1 July.

On 27 July, three people were killed and two others injured by suspected armed herders in Elulu and Agadagba communities in Ohimini Local Government Area of Benue State.

A day after, 14 people were killed again by suspected armed herders in Efeyi in Ugboju District of the Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State.

During the dashboard presentation on Tuesday, Mr Ojukwu also touched on hate speech made by prominent politicians in the just concluded Osun State governorship election and an Islamic cleric, Sani Jingir’s remarks made during the mass wedding in Kano State.

On 11 August, the NHRC called for the arrest of Mr Jingir over his remarks on the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of the All Progressive Congress (APC). Despite the call, no action has been taken by the authorities in this regard.

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Similarly, the commission (NHRC) also called for the suspension and arrest of the senator representing Osun East Senatorial District, Francis Fadahunsi, for issuing death threats to members of the Accord Party found in Ilesa ahead of the concluded Osun State governorship election.

During Tuesday’s dashboard presentation, Mr Ojukwu emphasised the need for prosecution of the cases in the face of political campaigns ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Mr Ojukwu noted that this was not a time to throw rhetoric that divides Nigerians. He therefore called for caution.

“Ladies and gentlemen, as we head into the 2027 polls, it has become pertinent that the Commission restate its call on our politicians, religious and traditional rulers to eschew hateful and divisive rhetoric and politics as these have negative impacts on the enjoyment of human rights.”