Rights Abuse: Kano Tops NHRC’s 3.7m Complaints Chart In 2025

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said it received 3,724,822 complaints of human rights violations in 2025, with Kano State recording the highest number of cases.

Executive Secretary of the commission, Tony Ojukwu, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at an International Women’s Day event organised by the Women’s Forum of the ECOWAS Court of Justice.

Ojukwu, who called for stronger regional action against gender-based violence, said the complaints ranged from abuses against women and children to violations affecting other vulnerable groups.

He said the figures were compiled from the commission’s 36 state offices and the Abuja Metropolitan Office, reflecting increased public awareness and willingness by victims to report abuses.

“In Kano State alone, the commission recorded 3,019 complaints between January and December 2025. Out of these, 2,276 cases were resolved, while 743 remain under investigation,” he said.

Ojukwu, represented by the NHRC Director of Women and Children Department, Ngozi Okorie, warned that gender-based violence remains one of the most widespread human rights violations globally.

Citing the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2018, he said nearly one in three Nigerian women aged 15 to 49 has experienced physical or sexual violence.

He added that Nigeria accounts for about 10 per cent of global survivors of gender-based violence, with an estimated 20 million women affected.