The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday expressed concern over the rising cases of human rights violations in April.

Hilary Ogbonna, senior human rights adviser to the NHRC executive secretary, raised concerns at the presentation of the fourth edition of the NHRC dashboard data, which represented April.

The dashboard is a monthly analysis and graphical presentation of the human rights situation in Nigeria, while the observatory monitors, reports on, and analyses human rights violations.

In his analysis, Mr Ogbonna pointed out an increase of 337 complaints of human rights violations in February.

According to him, 1,147 complaints were recorded in January, compared to 1,484 in February, and 1,580 complaints were recorded in March.

He said there was an upsurge in complaints recorded in April.

” The Total number of complaints was 19,470: against state actors—5,259; domestic violence—4,317; violation of children’s rights—1,457; against non-state actors—2,877; against private sector actors—106; Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR)—3695; right to life—110; persons with disabilities—136; others—365; referred complaints—191.

“Mass killings continue to be on the rise across states, media freedom under attack, killings of law enforcement and members of the armed forces, rise in cases of violence against children and minors, economic reforms impacting on the enjoyment of human rights.

“Issues in focus, cultism and human rights, over 20 deaths were recorded in April relating to activities of cultists in three states of Anambra, Edo and Enugu state,” he said.

According to him, NHRC calls on the government and security agencies to protect lives and properties, especially in educational institutions.

He lamented attacks on press freedom, saying over the last three months, five journalists, including Daniel Ojukwu, were arrested and detained beyond constitutional limits.

”Mr Lanre Arogundade was flagged off at the MMIA for being on a ‘watch list’ NHRC is concerned about these attacks on journalists and press freedom,”  he said.

Speaking earlier, the executive secretary of the NHRC, Anthony Ojukwu SAN, represented by Harry Obe, head of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR), said the monthly dashboard is part of the commission’s mandate.

” These facts, statistics, and analyses of human rights violations across broad and specific thematic areas provide policymakers, international partners, law enforcement agencies, civil society actors, and the media with the opportunity to gain insights into the evolving human rights landscape in Nigeria and explore collaborative avenues for addressing emerging challenges,” he said.

According to Mr Ojukwu, beyond providing a graphic presentation of the human rights situation, the April dashboard also serves as a guide and a measurement of our progress in realising the human rights of every Nigerian.

He noted that the dashboard provides information that will trigger a chain of multifaceted actions from every arm of government to tackle insecurity, poverty, and Inequality in our country.

Mr Ojukwu, speaking by himself later, said he attended a UN human rights conference in Geneva, and Nigeria was ranked high in reporting human rights violations.

Similarly, Nkechi Enubiaka, project officer of Rule of Law and Human Rights, on behalf of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), extended their deepest appreciation to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for their commitment to promoting human rights in Nigeria.

(NAN)