The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has raised concerns over the escalating wave of human rights violations across Nigeria, revealing that it handled more than 2.8 million complaints in 2025 alone.
The commission described the situation as a stark reflection of worsening insecurity, abuse of authority, discrimination, economic hardship and limited access to justice.
Executive Secretary of the commission, Tony Ojukwu, disclosed this in Abuja yesterday while declaring open a capacity-building training for legal officers of NHRC on strengthening access to justice through the revised Harmonised Complaints and Redress Manual.
Ojukwu said the overwhelming volume of complaints underscores the urgent need to reform the commission’s complaint management system to ensure quicker justice for victims and greater accountability for perpetrators.
According to him, the commission received 266,788 complaints in April alone, describing the figures as evidence of the growing human rights crisis confronting the country.
“These are not mere statistics. They are Nigerian mothers, fathers and children whose dignity has been violated. They are citizens who have turned to this Commission because they believe that where there is a right, there should also be a remedy,” he said.
The NHRC boss lamented that for many victims, access to justice has remained elusive due to delays within the judicial and criminal justice systems, stressing that the commission was established to bridge that gap.
He said the commission has therefore introduced a revised Harmonised Complaints and Redress Manual alongside a Human Rights Abuse Tracking System to accelerate complaint handling, strengthen enforcement and protect victims from intimidation and reprisals.
According to him, the digital platform will automate the submission, filing, sorting and escalation of complaints to appropriate departments, significantly reducing delays that have long plagued the complaint resolution process.
“The updated manual is designed to accelerate case resolution while ensuring a safer and more confidential process that minimises the risk of reprisals against victims. It is an institutional shield that reinforces our commitment to justice, transparency and human dignity,” Ojukwu said.
He explained that the commission could no longer rely on manual processes in handling the growing number of complaints, saying technology must drive faster and more efficient justice delivery.
The executive secretary directed the NHRC’s Legal Services and Enforcement Department to take a more proactive role in complaint management, saying legal officers must be involved from the point complaints are received until decisions are fully enforced.
He noted that the department must move beyond its traditional advisory role and become central to the commission’s enforcement architecture.
Ojukwu identified inconsistent administrative rulings, prolonged delays in complaint resolution, weak inter-departmental collaboration, under-utilisation of enforcement powers and cumbersome manual procedures as some of the major challenges undermining the commission’s effectiveness.
He urged participants at the training to embrace the new digital complaint management system and apply the knowledge gained to improve service delivery.
He maintained that restoring public confidence in Nigeria’s human rights protection system depends largely on the commission’s ability to deliver timely remedies to victims.
Ojukwu added that with the revised complaints manual, improved administrative procedures and the deployment of digital technology, the NHRC was positioning itself to ensure that justice is no longer a broken promise but a practical reality for millions of Nigerians seeking redress for human rights abuses.
