Nigerians Can Now Report Human Rights Violations Via Online Platform, Says NHRC

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in collaboration with civil society groups and development partners, has developed an online platform that allows Nigerians to report incidents of human rights abuses while getting real-time responses from the commission.

It made this public through a press statement obtained on Wednesday by HumAngle and said the aim of the project is to document and investigate violations across Nigeria.

The web application was developed with support from the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, Department for International Development (UKAID), and Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC). 

A visit to the platform shows that users are able to upload pictures and supply other information, including the location and date of the violation, perpetrators, identities of the victims, and summary of the event.

The person reporting is required to provide their phone number and name but NHRC assures that their “identity will not be made public”. 

“Your information will only be used to follow up on your report,” the website states.

The platform enables the commission to collate, analyse, and generate statistical reports that will be made available to the public.

“The Commission’s primary mandate is the monitoring and investigation of human rights violations. This includes the publication of annual state of human rights report for the country,” the press statement said. 

“This platform is, therefore, key to efficiency and effectiveness in the discharge of the mandate of the Commission.”

NHRC said that the website was not just created to allow Nigerians report cases of abuse, but will be used to “bring the individuals and agencies behind any human rights violation to account”.

“The platform will also be used by the Commission to scale up its efficiency and effectiveness in the performance of its functions. CSO partners and citizens are encouraged to file reports,” it added.

The website’s dashboard indicates that, so far, four reports have been lodged from Abia, Adamawa, Osun, and Zamfara states. The victims complained of physical assault, degrading treatment, extortion, and destruction of property by officials of the Nigeria Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.