By Edith Nwapi
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has called for stakeholders’ commitment in the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) on the promotion of human rights.
The Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Dr Tony Ojukwu SAN, made the call on Tuesday at the presentation of the August dashboard report of the commission on violations of human rights in the 36 states and the FCT.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NAP is a guiding policy document for promoting, protecting, and enforcing human rights in Nigeria.
” Let us commit to the NAP on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights: strengthening early warning systems, strengthening referral systems, scaling digital reporting tools, and fostering multi-sectoral dialogues.
” Our Observatory’s robust tracking, coupled with increasing trends in resolved cases, shows progress is possible.
” Let us build on this by expanding community custodians in hotspots like the North-West and youth-led forums in the South-East.
” Ladies and gentlemen, these dashboards continue to serve as our compasses” he said.
Ojukwu called on all stakeholders to support this Vision: real-time alerts, nationwide response, and policies that breathe life into the lived experience of every Nigerian.
” Together, let’s strive to write a new chapter, one where this dashboard doesn’t just count complaints but celebrates solutions.
” Lastly, let me also take this opportunity to thank our state offices, partners, and civil society allies and all whose contributions continue to make this work possible.
” We also extend our appreciation to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, United Nations Development Programme and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for their support to the National Human Rights Commission” he said.
Earlier, Ojukwu noted that the commission received 365, 224 complaints of human rights violations in August.
He said:”these are the voices who entrusted them with their stories of struggle for enjoyment of human rights.
” These complaints, received across our 38 collection points in Nigeria reveal a nation at a crossroad.
” The data speaks loudly, spotlighting three critical areas: Freedom from Discrimination, Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR), and Law Enforcement and Human Dignity.
” These are not mere statistics; they are the pulse of a people yearning for fairness, justice, and respect. Our Observatory’s findings amplify this urgency, documenting incidents of human rights violations across all geo-political zones”.
Mr Hiliary Ogbonna, senior human rights adviser to the executive secretary, presented the August dashboard and observatory reports.
He said that the commission with the support of its partners, UNHCR also documented rising incidences of numbers of populations of refugees in the country… (NAN)(www.nanews.ng)