By George Ozalla
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has disclosed that it received 268,787 human rights complaints across the country in May 2026, describing the period as one of the most challenging months for human rights in Nigeria due to rising incidents of killings, kidnappings, attacks on schools and places of worship, as well as violations linked to state and non-state actors.
The Commission revealed the figures during the presentation of its May 2026 Human Rights Situation Dashboard in Abuja, noting that the complaints represented an increase over the figures recorded in April.
Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Tony Ojukwu, said the developments recorded during the month reflected serious concerns about the protection of human dignity and fundamental freedoms across the country. He stressed that violations involving state actors remained among the most significant concerns identified by the Commission.
According to the dashboard, the North Central geopolitical zone recorded the highest number of complaints with 120,659 cases. The North-East followed with 50,201 complaints, while the North-West recorded 47,719 cases. The South-East accounted for 31,210 complaints, the South-South recorded 9,558, while the South-West registered 9,440 complaints during the period under review.
The Commission further reported that 202 of the complaints were related to kidnappings, while 390 cases involved extra-judicial killings and other deaths, including fatalities arising from road accidents.
Providing further insight into the dashboard, NHRC officials highlighted a series of security incidents recorded during the month, including attacks on educational institutions and places of worship in different parts of the country. The Commission expressed concern over the continued threat posed to children’s right to education and the increasing vulnerability of communities affected by insecurity.
The Commission also raised concerns over attacks affecting freedom of religion, citing incidents in which worshippers were killed or abducted during religious gatherings. It warned that such attacks undermine constitutionally guaranteed rights and pose serious threats to national cohesion and peaceful coexistence.
Among the incidents highlighted by the Commission was a reported military airstrike in Tumfa community of Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State that allegedly affected civilians during an operation targeting terrorists. The NHRC said it was engaging relevant authorities on the matter and called for strengthened measures to protect civilians during security operations.
The dashboard further showed that the Federal Capital Territory, Benue, Borno, Kaduna, Niger, Plateau, Imo, Sokoto, Bauchi and Kogi emerged as the top ten locations with the highest number of reported human rights violations during the month. Collectively, complaints from these states accounted for about 74 per cent of all cases received by the Commission.
On gender-related violations, the NHRC reported that 2,123 women lodged complaints relating to domestic violence, while 75 complaints involved sexual violence and 18 related to rape. Child abandonment remained the most frequently reported child rights violation, followed by custody-related disputes and cases of sexual abuse involving minors.
Despite the scale of complaints received, the Commission said it made significant progress in dispute resolution. It reported resolving 3,560 cases during May, representing a substantial increase compared to the 1,651 cases resolved in April. The NHRC also disclosed that it conducted visits to 107 custodial centres, police stations and detention facilities across the country, summoned police authorities 32 times and carried out oversight visits to military detention facilities.
Ojukwu stressed that the incidents recorded during the month should not be viewed as isolated occurrences but as indicators of broader humanitarian concerns requiring urgent national attention. He called for stronger collaboration among government institutions, security agencies, civil society organisations and citizens to ensure the protection of human rights and the rule of law across Nigeria.
