“NHRC Records Over 3.7 Million Human Rights Complaints in 2025” — Ojukwu Attributes Rise to Insecurity, Governance Deficits

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has revealed that it received more than 3.7 million human rights complaints and reports across Nigeria in 2025, highlighting persistent structural and security-related challenges facing the country.

The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Tony Ojukwu, SAN, who disclosed this on Tuesday, in Abuja during the presentation of the December 2025 human rights situation dashboard and Nigeria’s human rights outlook for 2026 said, the 3,724,822 complaints recorded nationwide reflect both growing public awareness of the Commission’s mandate and enduring human rights violations linked to insecurity, poverty, and governance deficits.

“The figure is significant, not only in its size, but in what it represents. It shows increased confidence in reporting violations, while also underscoring the persistence of structural human rights challenges in Nigeria”, he said.

According to the NHRC, the complaints covered a broad spectrum of rights, including livelihoods, housing, education, healthcare, civil and political rights, gender-based violence, child rights violations, and abuses against vulnerable and key populations.

Findings from the 2025 General Observatory Dashboard, according to the NHRC boss, show that violations are closely linked to inequality, unemployment, weak institutions, limited access to justice, and poor service delivery, with significant variations across states and regions.

Looking ahead to 2026, Ojukwu expressed cautious optimism, outlining key priorities for the Commission.

These, he said, include strengthening early warning systems, deepening engagement with security and law-enforcement agencies to ensure human rights compliance, expanding access to justice for women and children, integrating technology into reporting and monitoring, and enhancing partnerships across sectors.

Ojukwu reaffirmed the NHRC’s commitment to building a Nigeria where justice is accessible, accountability is the norm, and human rights are respected and protected.

Presenting the December 2025 human rights situation dashboard, the senior special adviser to the NHRC, Mr Hillary Ogbona, said the Commission received a total of 342,604 complaints of human rights violations in December last year.

Giving a breakdown of the complaints, Ogbona said 65,664 complaints were received from the North-West, 64,350 from the North-East, North-Central recorded 143,402 complaints, South-West, 13,009 and 13,173 human rights violations complaints were received from the South-South region of the country.

In December 2025, he said, the Commission recorded 390 kidnappings, 246 killings, 670 child abandonment and nine killings of security personnel.

The senior human rights adviser also called for the passage of the bill on the national policy on human rights protection in the country.