NHRC frowns as 7764 Nigerians are displaced in latest survey

By Jude Opara

The Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Dr. Tony Ojukwu has decried the displacement of Nigerians 7764 Nigerians in June.

Ojukwu who was speaking at the presentation of the 2026 3rd bi-monthly (May/June) dashboard on the promotion and protection of the rights of forcibly displaced persons (FDPs), refugees, asylum seekers, and returnees said the NHRC will continue to engage stakeholders in an effort to change the tide.

He revealed that the data was collected from across seven project states in Nigeria, through its project team during the reporting period (May/June), which has continued to monitor, promote, and protect the rights of the mandated populations (forcibly displaced persons, refugees, asylum-seekers, returnees, and their host community).

According to him, from the data presented in the dashboard, except for refugees, which increased in number, the FDPs’ population reduced in number not because displacement has stopped, but due to the inability of the project team to have visited all the affected areas.

“This is not because displacement has stopped in the project states, but because of the inability of our team to access hard-to-reach communities due to the persistent activities of insurgents, bandits, and kidnappers. Also, a wide range of human rights violations affecting the mandated populations were documented during this reporting period.

“These cases are aggregated across several thematic areas, and they include:
Socio-economic rights, primarily related to access to food and shelter. It highlights the profound livelihood challenges faced by displaced populations who often lack sustainable means to feed and house their families.

“Our monitors were able to manage some of these cases at the community level and referred others to other human rights protection service providers. Also, there are cases of social cohesion, reflecting tensions between displaced persons and host communities over scarce resources, land disputes, and discrimination. These cases underscore the importance of fostering peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding in these communities”.

Ojukwu regretted that Sexual and Gender -Based Violence (SGBV) has persisted in some parts of the country with about 180 reported cases.

“Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) persists as a deeply troubling protection issue. During the May/June reporting period, 180 cases were documented, an increase from the 174 recorded in March/April.

“These incidents encompassing domestic violence, spousal abandonment, sexual abuse and exploitation, harassment and assault, denial of resources and inheritance, psychological and emotional abuse, and forced marriage, underscore the entrenched nature of violence against displaced women and girls”.

He said this reality reinforces the commitment to enhancing response mechanisms.

Presenting the dashboard, the Director Monitoring, Dr. Benedict Agu said of the 7764 displaced persons, 3707 were male while 4057 were women.

Agu added that the project team also found out that there were during the period under review, 155 cases of gender based violence recorded, lack of access to education had 226 persons, while safety and security issues were faced by 15,179 persons.