The Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Chief Tony Ojukwu, SAN, has described the April 2025 Human Rights Situation Dashboard as the grimmest experienced in almost a year.

Speaking during his opening speech at the presentation in Abuja weekend, Ojukwu said the report is not merely a data exercise but a call to collective conscience, noting:  “The figures we share reflect the lived experiences of our fellow citizens. They demand not only our attention but our urgent action.”

He disclosed that the Commission received 261,483 complaints, adding that the figure represents only the visible portion of a much deeper crisis.

According to him, “Our Observatory has documented alarming trends, widespread human rights violations, forced displacements, and unchecked violence, particularly in conflict-affected states of the country.

“Our Human Rights Situation in April was the grimmest we have seen in almost a year. The killings in Plateau and Benue States as well as the resurgence of the attacks by Boko Haram and ISWAP in Borno state have left hundreds of citizens dead and injured.

“The crisis in the middle belt of Nigeria is not new. It has persisted for decades. Yet the bloodshed continues, and our national discourse too often treats these atrocities as commonplace. This must not be allowed to continue.

“We must collectively resist the normalization of the horrors that play out when families are slaughtered in their sleep, when children are laid to rest in shallow graves, when survivors are left without shelter, support, or justice. Nigeria must honour its national and international obligations to protect and fulfil the right to life and the right to the dignity of human person.”

The ES called on the federal and state governments as well as other key role players to prioritise security of lives as a fundamental obligation of governance and human rights.

He further called for the independent, impartial, and prompt investigations into all reported killings and displacements.

Speaking, the Ambassador to the Austrian Embassy, Peter Guschelbauer, lauded the investigative report by the NHRC, stating that it’s the only way to curb human rights abuse because it boosts the prosperity and political development of a nation.