Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has disclosed that received a total of 2,314,440 petitions from members of the public in 2022, alleging various forms of human rights violations.
Against the background of persisting insecurity in the country, the Commission said lack of unemployment benefits, non-payment of a living wage to employees, disenfranchisement of voters, constituted human rights violation which may aggravate the insecurity situation.
Executive Secretary of the Commission, Mr. Tony Ojukwu, who disclosed this in Abuja, during a stakeholders’ Dialogue on the State of Human Rights in Nigeria organised by the Policy and Legislative Advocacy Centre (PLAC) in Abuja, said there were many challenges in the way of protection of rights of individuals in the country.
Ojukwu said the Human Rights Commission was actively engaged in investigating, documenting and reporting human rights violations in accordance with its core mandate to protect and enforce human rights in the country.
He said the commission had been inundated with complaints of human rights violations.
“In 2022 alone, the Commission received total complaints of 2,314,440 (about 27 percent increase from previous year). The complaints were received through various sources including routine complaints,” he added.
According to Ojukwu, complaints on human rights violations were received from both the Abuja head office and its state offices nationwide.
“The right to life is also directly violated by persistence and security in the form of terrorism. Escalating killings farmers-herders, conflicts, separatists. agitations, kidnappings, and robbery and banditry that went across the country.
“Likewise, the dignity of the human person is also on the recent reports of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment by law enforcement official, exemplified by the reports of Human Rights Watch.
“We documented 12 cases where young men have been shot in the foot or leg while in police custody. In this event, unlawful arrest by security agencies threaten our personal liberties.
“Similarly, the right to freedom of expression and assembly is under attack,” he said.
In addition, Ojukwu said cases of violations of rights to freedom of expression and worship had been a major cause for concern in dealing with human rights issues in the country.
Speaking on accountability and challenges facing human rights protection in the country, Ojukwu said poor funding to investigate and prosecute received petitions as well as societal ignorance on what constitutes fundamental human rights of a citizen were seriously affecting the work of the Commission.
He said the Commission was pushing for the enactment of a law establishing a Human Rights Fund to facilitate it’s work.
NHRC boss expressed worry that the courts whose role it was to resolve issues human rights abuses usually have their verdict ignored and disobeyed by parties in the conflict, especially government agencies.
Ojukwu said there were lot of ungoverned spaces across the country especially the bushes which had been taken over by kidnappers and criminals to perpetrate crime.
In his remarks, Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Mohammed Monguno, said one of the most pressing issues that must be addressed was the protection of freedom of expression and the press.
“A free and vibrant media is indispensable to a healthy democracy, yet journalists and media workers in Nigeria continue to face harassment, intimidation, and even violence for simply doing their jobs,” he said.
While welcoming participants, Executive Director of the Policy and Legislative Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Mr. Clement Nwankwo, said although some progress may have been made on human rights preservation since the advent of democracy in Nigeria, much needed to be done to improve on them.
He said the fact remained that democracy had enabled the country to have representatives, “who are expected to speak for the people and who listen to the people and who are prepared to take up the challenges that our people face in order to seek redress for human rights.”
“Unfortunately, I think that the human rights situation, even if it has improved, remains a challenge for all of us,” he said.
