NHRC Records 354,997 Complaints In July, Raises The Alarm Over Child Sexual Violence, Digital Rights Abuse

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recorded a staggering 354,997 human rights complaints across Nigeria in July 2026.

It described the figure as a sobering indication of the scale of rights violations confronting citizens.

The commission also raised fresh alarm over the growing incidence of sexual violence against children, saying its Human Rights Observatory documented 25 cases involving children and minors during the month, with potentially devastating consequences for the victims’ physical and mental well-being.

The executive secretary of the NHRC, Dr Tony Ojukwu (SAN), disclosed this yesterday when he presented the commission’s July 2026 Human Rights Situation Dashboard and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hope Behind Bars Africa in Abuja.

Ojukwu said the monthly dashboard was designed to provide an evidence-based picture of human rights conditions in the country, including the concentration of violations, emerging trends and areas requiring urgent intervention.

He said the persistence of violations against women and children required urgent national attention, particularly the reported cases of sexual violence against children.

“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,” the NHRC boss warned.

Beyond physical violations, the Commission identified the digital space as a rapidly expanding frontier for human rights abuses, warning that Nigerians are increasingly exposed to online harassment, cyberbullying, data exploitation, digital surveillance, blackmail and technology-enabled extortion.

Ojukwu said the deliberate use of digital platforms to spread hatred and incite violence had moved beyond an emerging threat, becoming a documented and growing human rights concern.

He particularly warned of the implications of hate speech and divisive rhetoric as the country approaches the 2027 general elections, urging politicians, religious leaders and traditional rulers to refrain from making statements that could deepen social divisions.

The NHRC boss cited recent hate speeches by ranking politicians ahead of the concluded Osun State run-off elections, as well as what he described as deeply divisive and hateful comments by Sheikh Jingir in Kano.

The Commission, he said, had condemned the incidents and called for the prosecution of such cases, while advocating the emergence of a national ethos that promotes unity rather than division.

Ojukwu further cautioned that the growing influence of social media and artificial intelligence required Nigerians and institutions to broaden their understanding of human rights protection, particularly as freedom of expression, association, dignity and other fundamental rights increasingly intersect in the digital environment.

In response to the emerging threat, the NHRC announced a new partnership with Hope Behind Bars Africa under an initiative known as Justice Tech-Node, designed to strengthen Nigeria’s response to technology-enabled human rights abuses.

According to Ojukwu, the initiative will adopt an integrated approach to addressing technology-enabled harm and contribute to the development of Nigeria’s broader technology justice ecosystem, with particular attention to young and marginalised Nigerians who are vulnerable to digital abuse.

He said the initiative was deliberately designed around prevention, stressing that the Commission’s responsibility went beyond documenting violations after they had occurred.

“A human rights commission that only counts violations after they occur is doing half of its job,” Ojukwu said, stressing that prevention must remain as important as redress.

He said the Justice Tech-Node initiative would therefore seek to anticipate and prevent technology-enabled abuses before they multiply. At the same time, the new partnership with Hope Behind Bars Africa would build on the existing relationship between the two organisations.

The NHRC executive secretary said the formalisation of the partnership through the signing of the MoU was expected to produce measurable outcomes for Nigerians, particularly vulnerable persons and those whose rights are threatened in both physical and digital spaces.

The July dashboard and new Justice Tech-Node initiative place the Commission’s latest intervention against a backdrop of rising concern over the protection of fundamental rights as Nigeria moves towards the 2027 elections and as technology increasingly shapes how citizens communicate, organise and conduct their daily activities.