Abuja: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has reported receiving over 1.5 million complaints of human rights violations within a six-month period. This data is contained within the NHRC dashboard and observatory reports spanning from January to June across the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the commission recorded 180,341 complaints in January, 223,144 in February, and 256,132 in March. The numbers continued to rise with 266,787 complaints in April, 268,787 in May, and a notable peak of 326,113 in June. Dr. Tony Ojukwu, SAN, Executive Secretary of the commission, emphasized in the report that the dashboard serves as an essential accountability tool for identifying trends, emerging risks, and areas needing urgent intervention.
Dr. Ojukwu expressed alarm over the incidents of sexual violence against children, highlighting the need for urgent, coordinated intervention to address the persistent and unresolved nature of this violence. He also pointed out that May 2026 was a particularly challenging month for human rights in Nigeria, marked by violent attacks, kidnappings, communal clashes, displacement, gender-based violence, mob actions, and alleged abuses by law enforcement agencies.
The report highlighted increasing concerns over extra-judicial killings by law enforcement and security agencies. The NHRC launched the dashboard in 2024 to enhance the monitoring of human rights violations in the country, providing a crucial platform for accountability and intervention.