The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed deep concern over the surge in human rights violations across Nigeria, revealed that it recorded 365,224 complaints in August 2025 alone.
Presenting the Commission’s August Human Rights Situation Dashboard in Abuja, Executive Secretary Dr. Tony Ojukwu,, said the data underscored a nation grappling with discrimination, insecurity, and worsening socio-economic pressures.
He explained that the complaints largely focused on freedom from discrimination, economic and social rights, and abuses linked to law enforcement. “These are not mere statistics; they are the pulse of a people yearning for fairness, justice, and respect,” Ojukwu noted.
According to him, the NHRC Observatory tracked disturbing trends nationwide, including banditry in the North-West, mob justice in urban centres such as Abuja and Kwara, sexual violence against minors in Ekiti and Ondo, farmer-herder clashes in Benue and the FCT, land disputes in Ebonyi, and suicides in Osun and Imo connected to financial and academic stress.
He added that between May and July 2025 alone, 8,966 people were newly displaced, raising the total to 53,261 internally displaced persons in six months. The Dashboard also captured 10,710 returnees, 5,191 refugees, and 2,275 asylum seekers, whom Ojukwu described as populations at their “highest vulnerability and exposure to human rights violations.”
Calling for urgent reforms, the NHRC boss urged governments, humanitarian actors, and civil society to prioritize the rights of displaced persons and vulnerable populations. He pressed for stronger child protection laws, transparent policing, improved land governance, and expanded digital tools for rights reporting.
“These dashboards must serve as our compass. They should not just count complaints but celebrate solutions,” he said, while also commending the support of UNHCR, UNDP, OHCHR, civil society groups, and state offices that continue to collaborate with the Commission.
