By Joy Baba-Yesufu
The Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission, (NHRC) Mr. Anthony Ojukwu has said election violence has become a recurring problem in Nigeria with incidence of violence increasing during each election circles.
He said this violence create fears and instability, undermines democracy and good governance adding that it also leads to broader society unrest.
Ojukwu stated this in Abuja at a mass atrocity summit organized by Global Rights, (a Non-Governmental Organisation, NGO) with the theme “Remembering to prevent: Enhancing accountability for mass atrocities through effective documentation.
The Mass Atrocities Summit is held annually by Global Rights and its partners to enhance knowledge and understanding of the various forms of mass atrocities contextualized within violent conflicts across Nigeria, and to explore how the deficit of memory, and the lack of institutional capacity to employ memory perpetuate these atrocities.
The executive secretary who was represented by the director, monitoring department of the commission, Benedict Agu said this year’s election was no different with at least 137 persons killed and over 60 persons abducted between December 2022 and march 2023 as a result of politically motivated violence.
”We are here to discuss ways to prevent election violence. True prevention is not waiting for bad things to happen, it is preventing them from happening at all”, he said.
Earlier in her welcome address, Executive Director, Global Rights, Ms Abiodun Baiyewu said mass atrocity can be attributed to Boko Haram, banditry ISWAP, community clashes, extra judicial killing, herdsmen attacks, isolated attacks, mob attacks, political violence, ritual killings and secessionist movement.
She said insecurity is the major reason out of school children keep increasing by the day as parents refused to release their kids even with the safe school’s initiative. “Even when schools are opened, parents were no longer releasing their children to go to school. The Safe School’s Initiative never took off. Nigeria year after year continue to increase undisputedly in the number of out of school children in the world with insecurity as one of our major factors” she said.
According to her, ”data shows that in 2022 at least 5792 were killed across Nigeria due to mass atrocity in that year. 5270 were civilians, the rest of them were active service personnel, men and women who laid down their lives for our country. We are losing our security men and women, our greatest asset when it comes to security. Abduction has skyrocketed over the years. 5149 people were kidnapped in 2022.
“It is a matter of great concern. There are fears that one could be kidnapped in a school, at home or on the street. It doesn’t matter whether you are in the city or you are in the rural area. You may be rich, you may be poor; it doesn’t make you less vulnerable even almajiri children get kidnapped.
She expressed hope that, the situation will get better in the near future.
“We will keep documenting, we will keep looking for a way out, till our change comes. There will be an end to this long dark horrific tunnel and there will be light in our country again, we will make one if there is none. We are hopeful that we will find solution to this madness that this crime is inflicting on us as a people”.
