We recorded 331,035 cases of rights violations, 375 killings in July – NHRC

….urges FG to tackle poverty, impunity, weak institutional responses

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA– The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, on Tuesday, expressed worry over the increasing cases of human rights violations in the country, decrying that last month, it recorded a total of 331, 035 complaints.

The Commission, while presenting its July 2025 human rights situation dashboard, said the complaints increased by 10 percent, compared to what it recorded in the month of June.

Giving a breakdown of the complaints, it disclosed that the North Central topped the chart with a total of 140, 707 cases, followed by the North West where 63, 296 cases were recorded.

While 55, 287 complaints emanated from the North East; it added that there were 41,895 cases in the South East, 15, 280 cases in South West and 14, 570 cases in the South South.

A further breakdown of the figures showed that Benue state, with 39, 837 cases, led the pack of 10 states with the highest complaints, followed by the FCT, Borno, Kaduna, Niger, Plateau, Imo, Sokoto and Kogi.

Besides, the NHRC revealed that 375 deaths were recorded across the country in the month under review, as well as 98 cases of kidnapping.

According to the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Tony Ojukwu, SAN, the most prevalent issues for the month related to law enforcement and human dignity, freedom from discrimination, as well as economic, social, and cultural rights.

“These are not new issues, but their persistence underscores systemic problems we cannot normalize.

“From our observatory, we are gravely concerned by the resurgence and escalation of deadly violence in different parts of the country. In Sokoto, 15 men were killed in a reprisal attack by suspected members of Lakurawa. In Kebbi, a similarly tragic pattern emerged, with three police officers losing their lives in a failed abduction attempt.

“The month of July represents the deadliest for vigilante groups in the country with a fatality of almost a hundred deaths. The role of vigilante in supporting our security and armed forces in the field of battle should not be lost on us.

“Their decimation portends danger for our collective security and the enjoyment of our liberties. These are not isolated incidents; they represent a failure of security, justice and accountability. We are seeing an increase in targeted killings of law enforcement agents; frequent kidnappings and killings by bandits; brazen acts of violence by cultist groups and widespread violations of the right to life, particularly in communities already vulnerable due to conflict and poverty.

“It is in this regard, that the National Human Rights Commission welcomes the arrests of the leaders of Ansaru, a deadly terrorist organisation which is responsible for gross human rights violations of Nigerians.

“As we salute the courage and gallantry of our intelligence and armed forces, we call on other sectors of our of our security and law enforcement to rise up to the responsibility of safeguarding the human rights of Nigerians currently facing attacks in Benue, Plateau, Niger, Zamfara, Sokoto and Borno states all of whom, based on our dashboard for July are facing dire security situations,” Ojukwu, SAN, added.

While imploring security agencies to reaffirm their commitment to professionalism and human rights in their operations, the NHRC boss urged the government to address the root causes of the violations which he listed as – poverty, impunity, and weak institutional responses.

In his remarks, Senior Human Rights Advisor to the Commission, Mr. Hillary Ogbonna, said the data was sourced from complaints received in 36 states of the federation and the FCT, as well as the Human Rights Observatory- a virtual setup that receives human rights related information on real-time basis.

The United Nations, which was represented by the Senior Human Rights Advisor to the UN Resident Coordinator, Adwoa Kufour, said it would continue to support the NHRC to bring rights related issues in the country to the frontburner for urgent action.

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