ABUJA – The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) first and second quarter project report on monitoring Human Rights situation in North East has said that the absence of Lawyers and court in some locations in the region have hindered the
administration of justice and access to justice in those areas.
The Commission stated this on Monday during media briefing on the NHRC/UNHCR project on the protection of forcibly Displaced persons in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
Recall that the Project covered 10 states (North East, North Central and FCT) in 2015 and later
reduced to 7 states in 2017 and further
reduced to the present 3 states of Borno,
Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) States in 2018.
The project aims at ensuring that Forcibly Displaced Persons have access to justice; freedom from arbitrary arrest/detention
arrest as well as other human rights violations. It further aims to ensure that human rights violations and abuses are identified and
referred and remedied by stakeholders in the
Criminal Justice Administration sector.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Executive Secretary, Dr Tony Ojukwu said the objective of the project is to monitor the human rights and Protection situation in the project states with the aim of gaining a comprehensive insight into the issues concerning the Forcibly Displaced Persons (IDPs,/Returnees etc), to enable the
government and other humanitarian actors intervene and respond to their needs, and thus reduce their vulnerability.
The Commission and the UNHCR have been in this partnership for the past 9 years. It has become increasingly apparent that the Commission and its partner create a forum to enlighten other stakeholders on its activities in the project states.
Dwelling on the benefits of the presentation, the NHRC Scribe said the presentation will provide stakeholders with an overview and analysis of human rights issues relating to the Forcibly Displaced Persons as observed and
documented by the Human Right Monitors in the Project states. It will further provide stakeholders with the opportunity to gain insights into the evolving human right issues of the Forcibly Displaced Persons and explore
collaborative avenues for addressing emerging challenges that affect the promotion and protection of the right of the Forcibly Displaced Persons.
Ojukwu thanked UNHCR for their continued support since 2015 on this project stressing that the Commission equally looks forward to more collaboration between it and other agencies in furtherance of the Commission’s common goal of promoting and protecting human rights and giving humanitarian assistance to the Forcibly
Displaced Persons in the project states and Nigeria in general.
