The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has called for enhanced disaster preparedness and stronger protection for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Nigeria following the recent flood disaster in Mokwa, Niger State, which claimed over 200 lives.
At the Commission’s monthly Human Rights Situation Dashboard in Abuja on Tuesday, Executive Secretary Dr. Tony Ojukwu also unveiled a new quarterly Human Rights and Internal Displacement Dashboard. Developed with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the initiative aims to track and address the challenges faced by IDPs, asylum seekers, refugees, and returnees across the country.
Ojukwu said that between February and April alone, the NHRC documented over 40,000 incidents of displacement and 1,460 rights complaints from these vulnerable populations. He lamented the ongoing issues of inadequate shelter, healthcare gaps, and systematic rights abuses.
The NHRC recorded more than 275,000 human rights complaints in May, underscoring what Ojukwu described as “a clear message that too many Nigerians feel unprotected.” He warned that such a surge in complaints risks normalizing distress and impunity.
Highlighting a range of rights violations—including violence in the Northeast, sexual violence, and the human cost of natural disasters—Ojukwu announced a new partnership with Ability Live Initiative Allies. The civil society group focuses on the rights of Nigeria’s estimated 5 million persons with disabilities, who face entrenched discrimination and limited access to essential services.
“This partnership aims to ensure that persons with disabilities are not merely included, but are actively participating in societal and economic spheres,” he said. Ojukwu urged government agencies, development partners, and civil society organizations to leverage the Commission’s dashboards as accountability tools to improve human rights outcomes in Nigeria.
