The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has received a total of 1,147 complaints of human rights violations in January, 2024, with the North-central zone having the highest number of complaints, while the South West recorded the lowest.
The Senior Human Rights Adviser, Mr. Hilary Ogbonna disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday in a maiden edition of Human Rights Dashboard which took place in Abuja. In his analysis, Mr. Ogbonna noted that Abuja has 382 out of 1,147 complaints received in January, 2024 saying the Commission has 36 collection Centers in its State Offices across the nation and additional Centre in Abuja to receive complaints of human rights violations.
The dashboard showed that the North-western region has the highest number of domestic violence in the Country, which includes wife battery, rape, child abandonment and assault.
These figures, he stated, represent only a fraction of rights violations in the Country as a large number of violations are unreported.
The Senior Lawyer observed that human right violations that were not reported but captured and analysed include, increase in kidnapping with children and young people as soft targets.
He said kidnapping and other criminal activities of non-state actors have posed challenges to the enjoyment of human rights across Nigeria. The Human Rights Advocate also expressed concern about the situation in Plateau State and the attacks on traditional institution.
“Based on our analysis, about 125 kidnapping cases were recorded in January, 56 killings, 22 children kidnapped and 12 of them killed. A total of 10 children were victims of torture, while seven law enforcement officers were killed in January”, he added.
