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NHRC unveils Policy Advisory, identifies Hate Speech as hindrance to peace, unity
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has released a Policy Advisory on the Role of Media in Countering and Reporting Hate Speech.
This is coming, as the Executive Secretary of the Commission; Chief Tony Ojukwu SAN condemned the use of hate speech by individuals and groups against others, communities and religious groups, among others.
Chief Ojukwu said that the destructive consequences of hate speech could only be imagined, adding that it destroys peace, unity and national cohesion.
The NHRC boss, who is also the Chief Human Rights Defender in Nigeria, spoke on Tuesday at a briefing commemorating the International Day for Countering Hate Speech, which was marked on the 18th of June 2023.
The briefing was jointly organised by the National Human Rights Commission and the United Nations in Nigeria which was represented by the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mathias Schmali.
According to Ojukwu, “Hate speeches promote discrimination, divisions, incites violence, all of which violate the right to dignity, right to life and belonging to a society.
“Hate speech could, as in recent cases, lead to violation of the right to political participation in the case of elections and political process and impedes voters’ participation and access in the elections.
“Hate speech is a threat to national cohesion, peace, security and the attainment of sustainable development and the achievement of human rights. We need to work together to combat hate speeches in political, social and cultural spheres”.
The NHRC Executive Secretary stressed that the Commission is deeply interested in the issue of hate speech under discussion today, especially in the context of Nigeria’s political, ethnic and religious diversities and heterogeneities.
He cited that “Hate speech is intricately related to human rights, either in its form or outcome. To the person spreading hate speech, it is about right to freedom of expression, opinion, speech or belief.
“To the recipient of hate speech, it is a violation of the rights to dignity of human person and the freedom from discrimination based on religious belief, political, ethnic, gender, cultural or other affiliations, amongst many other human rights.
“In the build up to the elections, we witnessed heavy traffic in the spread of hate speeches across many media platforms, often leaving Nigerians and voters deeply divided and maligned.”
He noted however, that the Commission in the exercise of its mandate, launched the “Mobilising Voters for Election (MOVE)” Project which he said has a broad mandate to promote access, participation and accountability in the 2023 general elections in Nigeria.
He enumerated some of the steps already taken by the Commission to checkmate hate speeches such as: Setting up of a National Hate Speech Register to record incidences and reports of hate speech from across Nigeria, Training of its staff on Monitoring and Reporting Hate Speech, Setting up Enforcement Mechanisms on Hate Speeches resulting from the electoral process; among others.
The legal team of suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, say they are ready with factil evidence to defend her in court.
The team received a formal summons in the case filed against her by the Federal Government at the Federal Capital Territory High Court last week.
On Friday, May 16, 2025, the Federal Government filed the suit, marked CR/297/25, over alleged defamatory remarks made during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on April 3, 2025.
The government accused the senator of “making imputation knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of a person”, citing Section 391 of the Penal Code, cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990.
Among the witnesses listed to testify during the trial were Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and a former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
Others include Asuquo Ekpenyong, a senator; Sandra Duru; Maya Iliya, investigating police officers; and Abdulhafiz Garba, investigating police officers.
However, in a statement issued Friday night by Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa (SAN) on behalf of the legal team, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s lawyers confirmed receipt of the formal summons and pledged to prepare all “factual and statutory defences” available to the lawmaker during trial.
“At about 2:30pm on Friday, May 23, 2025, within the premises of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, we received the information filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, containing three counts alleging that our client, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central, made imputations she had reason to believe would harm the reputation of Senator Godswill Akpabio, President of the 10th Senate,” the statement read.
“We received the said information on her behalf through a letter of authority duly issued and filed in the court’s registry.
“The legal team will fully prepare and present all factual and statutory defences available to our client during the trial.”
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) will on Tuesday next week begin the take over of 4,794 properties in Abuja, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) headquarters, due to unpaid ground rent.
The PDP headquarters, currently under construction in Abuja’s Central Business District, is among the affected properties, having been revoked in March for several years of unpaid ground rent. The FCTA disclosed that 4,794 titles had been revoked for failure to pay ground rent, with some defaults dating back 43 years.
The affected properties are located in various districts, including Central Area, Garki I and II, Wuse I and II, Asokoro, Maitama, and Guzape.
The defaulters owe over N6.96 billion in ground rent. The FCTA had given a 21-day grace period for owners with debts under 10 years, which has now expired.
The FCTA officials announced that the takeover would begin on Monday, May 26, 2025, with the sealing off and restriction of access to the affected properties.
The Director of Land Administration, Chijioke Nwankwoeze emphasized that the revocations were carried out under Section 28(5)(a)(b) of the Land Use Act, which empowers the government to reclaim land when the terms of occupancy are violated.
Two people sustained serious injuries when a training aircraft crash-landed at the Ilorin International Airport on Friday.
Director of Public Affairs and Family Assistance, NSIB, Mrs Bimbo Oladeji, who disclosed this in a statement, said the incident occurred at 17:28 local time on May 23, 2025, during a simulated instrument approach on Runway 05 at Ilorin International Airport.
Oladeji said the aircraft veered off the runway and came to a stop on the grass verge, leaving the two occupants on board injured.
She stated: “Both sustained serious injuries and were swiftly evacuated to a medical facility, coordinated by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA.
“In response, the NSIB Go-Team is currently preparing to depart from Abuja to Ilorin to conduct on-site investigations. The team will secure the site, collect physical evidence, interview witnesses, and retrieve operational data to establish the cause and contributing factors of the incident.”
Quoting the Director General of the NSIB, Captain Alex Badeh Jr., she said “Our thoughts are with the injured, and we commend the swift medical and emergency response. Now, our focus is on understanding exactly what went wrong. Every investigation is an opportunity to improve safety. We are deploying our team to Ilorin to ensure that no detail is overlooked.”
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