106,604 human rights abuses reported in June, says NHRC

The National Human Rights Commission has raised the alarm over the sudden increase in reported human rights violations for June 2024.

The Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Anthony Ojukwu (SAN), who stated this during the commission’s sixth dashboard meeting held at its headquarters in Abuja on Monday, attributed the surge in complaints to growing awareness among citizens.

“For the month of June, we have received an unprecedented number of 106,604 complaints. This increase is disturbing but not unexpected,” Ojukwu said, stating, “This is a positive development and a testament to the concerted efforts of all stakeholders.”

He emphasised that the increase in complaints underscores the impact of targeted interventions and collaborative efforts in protecting the rights of vulnerable populations.

The executive secretary thereby highlighted the importance of the monthly dashboard meetings in identifying key trends and issues in communities and called on all relevant stakeholders to safeguard human rights.

Presenting the dashboard report, a senior human rights Adviser to the NHRC, Hilary Ogbonna, highlighted child rights as a critical issue.

“For children who are facing the issues of right to survival and development, they are also likely to face other and serial human rights issues including child marriage, child labour, sexual abuse, right to education being abridged, and finally abandonment,” Ogbonna said.

The report also revealed that the North-Central region recorded the highest number of human rights violations in June, with the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, having two collection centres for complaints.

South-East had 9,164 reported cases; South-West (18,458); South-South (21,603); North-East (12,907); North-West (15,101); and North-Central (29,462), the report stated.