The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has called on the Federal Executive Council (FEC), to give needed attention to the Draft Policy on the Protection of Civilians and Civilian Harm Mitigation, which is currently awaiting the government’s ratification.

Mr. Benedict Agu, Special Adviser to the Executive Secretary and Director, Human Rights Monitoring at the NHRC, made the call on Monday in Abuja, while speaking exclusively to Nationwide Reports, on the sideline of the 3rd and 4th quarterly Media Briefing of the NHRC/UNHRC Project on the Protection of Forcibly Displaced Persons through Human Rights Monitoring in the North East (Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States).

The policy on protection of civilians and civilian harm mitigation requires a commitment on the government to overhaul rules around protecting, mitigating and responding to civilian harm resulting from military operations. It has a three-tier approach which are Protection through dialogue and engagement; Provision of Physical Protection and Establishing a protective environment.

Agu praised the Federal Government for all the support it is giving to the Commission, leading to its various achievements in the area of human rights monitoring and protection as well as creating awareness on rights of citizens and the windows available to them to seek redress.

He also gave kudos to the UNHRC for providing the funding for the project on protection of forcibly displaced persons in the affected areas, through monitoring, saying however, that all necessary international conventions and laws, like the draft policy mentioned above, need to be ratified, to strengthen the fight against human rights violations in the country.

Earlier, while welcoming participants at the event, the Executive Secretary/CEO, of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Dr Tony Ojukwu, SAN, said the Project on the Protection of Forcibly Displaced Persons through Human Rights Monitoring in the North East (Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States), has recorded notable achievements, despite facing significant challenges devastating flooding that impacted NHRC office in Borno and made movements of personnel and monitors difficult.

Ojukwu, who was represented by the Director, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Mr. Henry Odeh said- “The flood caused substantial damage, disrupting operations and affecting the number of individuals reached during detention monitoring and awareness raising efforts in the 3rd quarter. Nevertheless, our Human Rights Monitors (HRMs) conducted a total of 1,423 visits to detention facilities across the BAY states (Borno, Adamawa and Yobe) during the 3rd and 4th quarters. During the visits, 891 individuals were reached during the 3rd quarter and 1,490 in the 4th quarter, bringing the year’s total to 4,304 individuals. While this was slightly below the target of 5,000, it underscores the resilience of our teams in the face of adversity.”

In the area of awareness raising campaigns, Ojukwu said teams engaged 26,553 individuals in the 3rd quarter and 27,518 in the 4th quarter through visits to camps, host communities and returnee locations, which brings to a total of 54,750 individuals which he described as an impressive 91% of the 60,000 targeted for the year. These figures, he said, demonstrates the dedication of the field teams to ensuring that forcibly displaced persons are not left behind.

“The project also achieved remarkable success for case management. HRMs identified and managed 3,096 human right cases, exceeding the annual target of 1,500 cases, by 106 percent. This exceptional performance highlights the commitment of our monitors, to addressing human rights violations promptly and effectively, despite the constraints of operating in a challenging environment. Additionally, a total of 80 security personnel were trained during the year on integrating humanitarian and human rights responses into counter-insurgency operations, achieving 100% of the annual training target. However, there is need for this training in Yobe.”

According to the NHRC boss, these accomplishments, underline the positive impacts of the joint efforts in protecting forcibly displaced persons and ensuring their access to justice, adding that they also reflect the strength of the partnerships and dedication of the teams involved in the project, even in the face of persistent challenges such as insecurity, limited resources and natural disasters.

“We remain steadfast in our dedication to transparency and accountability. These reports not only highlight progress but also serve as a platform for engaging stakeholders, generating conversations and inspiring collaboration to improve human rights protection in the BAY states,” Ojukwu stated.

He then thanked the UNHCR, Human Rights Monitors, Task Teams and community partners for their various contributions towards the success of the project, saying their dedication continues to be a source of hope and inspiration.

“We are committed to jointly addressing the challenges identified, including improving disaster responses to mitigate the impact of future disruptions, expanding community awareness campaigns and strengthening collaboration with stakeholders to further enhance our impact. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the rights and dignity of forcibly displaced persons are upheld. Moreover, we look forward to the actualisation of our proposal to UNHCR for 2025 for the continuous monitoring and protection of IDPs, asylum seekers, stateless persons, refugees and returnees in the 11 states of Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kano, Taraba, Benue, Cross River and Akwa Ibom,” he stated.