Still On Human Rights Violations

At its recent monthly dashboard meeting, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) revealed that Nigeria recorded 1,580 human rights violations across the six geopolitical zones in the month of March 2024 alone. It also claimed that the North Central topped the list of human rights violations with 468 cases, while the police, military, and Department of State Service (DSS) grouped as State Actors recorded 94 rights violations, including the killings of the military and police personnel in Delta State.

A further breakdown of the figures by the commission revealed that 542 cases of violation of children’s rights were recorded during the period under review while domestic violence, which it said was becoming too rampant in some part of the country, had 471 recorded cases.

Non state and private actors have 32 and 36 respectively while three cases of violation of rights were recorded against disabled people. According to NHRC, other sectors including social, economic and cultural rights accounted for 157 while referred cases was put at 24.

Speaking at the event at its headquarters in Abuja, Senior Human Rights Adviser, Hilary Ogbonna, said that killings and kidnapping accounted for 499 while another 71 violations of rights to life were also recorded by the commission during the period.

Ogbonna also said that about 301 school children were abducted in Kaduna State alone while 40 people were killed in Benue state with four deaths recorded in Nasarawa State during the sharing of palliatives. The commission stated that the rights violations included killings, kidnappings, domestic violence, abductions and children’s right among others.

As a newspaper, we are dismayed that right to life is being violated in various ways coupled with the increasing cases of human rights violation. This is even as the Global Peace Index Report in December 2023, ranked Nigeria among the least peaceful countries in the world, ranking 144th out of the 163 countries surveyed.

In its 17th edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), Nigeria scored 2.713 after Israel. In our opinion, this report has further exposed the gravity of human rights abuses in Nigeria despite over two decades of democratic governance and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was unanimously adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations through the General Assembly Resolution 217A (111) on the 10th of December, 1948.
On a wider perspective, basic issues involved in fundamental human rights are freedom rights – freedom from oppression in its various forms, participation rights – in the decision-making processes in various spheres of life, benefits right – to food, work, medical care, education and so on.

Since its declaration, it has become fashionable for most countries of the world, Nigeria inclusive, to entrench the catalogue of rights in their constitutions. But, regrettably, in Nigeria, and indeed Africa, people are usually subjected to physical and mental torture ranging from cases of accidental discharge and other forms of police brutality, domestic violence, kidnappings as well as detention without trial.

There is no gainsaying it that insecurity has continued to manifest in virtually all parts of the country in the form of banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and communal conflicts, resulting in the loss of lives and property. This underscores the failure of the government and the security forces to fulfill the social contract with citizens, to ensure their security and protect them against lawlessness.

We are not unaware that violations of rights that guarantee personal freedom are further worsened by the apparent lack of remedies for the victims, whether in the form of compensation or access to justice for the wrong done. With increasing cases of human rights abuses, citizens’ trust in the Nigerian system has continued to dwindle, making it difficult for victims to come forward and seek justice.
The Nigerian Constitution guarantees the right to personal liberty which implies that human rights are the fundamental features of any true democratic setting. While we recognise the efforts made by nations towards safeguarding these freedoms, it is equally essential to acknowledge the persistent obstacles that hinder their full realisation.

Some of these obstacles may arise from legislative constraints, societal prejudices, or systemic shortcomings. Whatever is the case, justice demands that collective attention and concerted efforts be made to dismantle them.

We are persuaded to point out the myriad of challenges from insecurity, separatist agitations, to the incidence of torture, illegal detention, extortion and extra-judicial killings by law enforcement agencies. Limited access to justice, abuse of court process and disregard for court orders, increased cost of living and deteriorating living conditions are some of the other challenges that continue to confront citizens on a daily basis and hamper their ability to lead safe and meaningful lives.

It is imperative to underscore the critical role that human rights protection plays in fostering vibrant democracies, promoting social cohesion and diversity, while cultivating a conducive and peaceful living environment. In that context, we are convinced that the strengthening of independence of the judiciary, press freedom, democratic rules/principles, human rights education and public vigilance would go a long way to curtail human rights abuses and promote good governance in Nigeria.