The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday held its inaugural forum with traditional and religious leaders on transitional justice and reconciliation in the North-East region.

Speaking at the meeting in Maiduguri, the executive secretary of NHRC, Tony Ojukwu, said the event was supported by the European Union (EU) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Stating that the commission recognised the traditional and religious leaders’ efforts in enhancing social development, he said it was pertinent for them to advocate peace, reconciliation and justice.

“It is the view of the commission that the efforts of both the federal and state governments at deradicalising Boko Haram insurgents and reintegrating them to communities should be followed with a process of formal and non-formal community-led transitional and restitutive justice anchored on human rights and social inclusion,” Mr Ojukwu said.

He observed that reconciliation is far cheaper to both the victim and the society than the military or formal judicial process.

Mr Ojukwu lauded the sacrifices of the Nigerian Armed Forces and the commitments of the governments and citizens of the North-East states towards reconstruction, rehabilitation and reintegration of affected communities.

He noted that the decade-long Boko Haram insurgency witnessed some of the worst forms of human rights violations in Nigeria’s history, which brought untold physical, emotional and psychological losses to the victims and their families.

According to him, a recent report by UNDP estimated that there had been around 350,000 direct and indirect deaths linked to the insurgency, with over two million displaced people in Nigeria and neighbouring countries. 

(NAN)