NHRC Records 1,484 Rights Violations In February

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has officially inaugurated its monthly dashboard on human rights violation in the country with an alarming record of 1, 147 and 1,484 human rights violation cases in the months of January and February respectively.

The executive secretary of the NHRC, Tony Ojukwu (SAN) disclosed this while presenting his speech at the occasion of the official presentation of the February edition of the monthly dashboard on human rights which took place, yesterday, at the NHRC Headquarters, in Abuja.

Ojukwu explained that the monthly dashboard on the state of human rights in Nigeria presents facts, statistics and analysis of human rights violations across broad and specific thematic areas for policy makers, security and law enforcement agencies as well as civil society and the media to respond to the myriads of human rights violations in Nigeria.

He said the commission is concerned about the state of human rights in Nigeria, especially the impact of economic reforms on the enjoyment of human rights by Nigerians. He lamented on the images and videos of citizens breaking into warehouses and trucks conveying foodstuffs explaining that it do not only portend dangers on the rule of law but clearly shows a clear violation of the right to dignity of the human person guaranteed by the Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

While reiterating that the February 2024 Dashboard is a graphic representation of the state of human rights in the country, he argued that the data, beyond being indicative, presents itself as a guide and a measurement of progress towards realising the human rights of every Nigerian.

He said the data will provide information that will trigger a chain of multi-faceted actions on tackling insecurity, poverty and inequalities in Nigeria, adding that the upsurge in violence, killings and kidnappings recorded in February should concern every arm of government.

“The monthly dashboard on the state of human rights is borne out of the necessity by the Commission to monitor, investigate and report on human rights systematically on a national scale in line with its mandate. The dashboard is a unique and distinctive initiative of the Commission that presents to us an info-graphic report on where we stand on human rights in our country, on a monthly basis, to enable all actors to monitor the trend of human rights and to be able to take steps in addressing same”, he said.

In his goodwill message, the senior human rights adviser to the United Nations Resident Coordinator and the United Nations Country Team (UN RC/UNCT), Mr Adwoa Kufuor who commended the NHRC and its team for taking the initiative to provide a platform that will help victims report abuses and abusers also said the action will help in ensuring accountability and offer redress for victims of abuses.

Represented by the national human rights officer, Office of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, Chika Obiatuegwu, Kufuor decried that human rights violations have continued to escalate across the country, explaining that the rights guaranteed under the Constitution are being infringed and exacerbated by persistent denial of access to justice.