Nigeria recorded 106, 604 human rights abuses in June alone – NHRC

The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, on Monday, revealed that a total of 106, 604 reported human rights abuses were recorded in June alone.

The rights abuses comprised 1,667 children abandonment and killing of 19 security personnel during the period.

Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Dr Tony Ojukwu, SAN, who made this public at the 6th edition of the monthly human rights dashboard of the Commission said the figure of the human rights abuses in June was the highest in the past six months.

Ojukwu said the increase was disturbing but not unexpected given the circumstances of the situation in the country.

He called on the state governors to rise to the protection of the fundamental rights of the citizens in their states, adding that the Commission itself would collaborate more with traditional rulers and Civil Society Organisations to raise the campaigns against human rights abuses.

Ojukwu noted with regret the increase in the extra-judicial killings in the country where he said Ebonyi and the Federal Capital Territory topped the list during the period.

Giving the breakdown of the reported 106, 604 human rights abuses, the Senior Human Rights Adviser to the NHRC Executive Secretary, Mr. Hillary Ogbonna explained that things are not going well in the country and that the increase in rights abuses called for more action.

In his breakdown, Ogbonna said the North Central still topped the table on human rights abuses with a record of 29, 462, closely followed by South South with 21, 603.

Ogbonna explained that the South West recorded 18, 458, North West recorded 15, 101, North East, 12, 907, while South East recorded the lowest of 9, 164 reporter cases of human rights violations.

On the extra judicial killings, Ogbonna regretted that killing for blasphemy was recorded in Bauchi, another killed in Ondo State for infidelity and the stabbing of a wife’s lover to death in Ogun State, while the recorded ones in Edo are related to cultism.

He said that three different attacks were carried out on Police stations with FCT having one, while Ebonyi recorded two and appealed to Nigerians to stop attacks on security operatives.

He also reminded that mob actions and jungle justice are against Nigerian laws and should therefore be stopped.

On bomb-related matters, he said Borno topped the list with two twin bomb explosions at wedding ceremonies where some people were killed, while Kaduna, Benue, Katsina and Plateau also had their own share in the terrorism-related killings in the month of June.

The human rights expert said the Commission is concerned with the high level of violation of the fundamental rights of women and children in the country.

Responding to a question on the 1, 667 abandoned children, the NHRC boss blamed the trend on the economic situation but explained that the current situation should not be a reason for innocent children to be abandoned.

Ojukwu said the Commission is partnering with stakeholders to provide shelter for the abandoned children while efforts are made to discover the parents of the children.