2019 Elections: NHRC Partners NGO to Check Rights Violations
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), says it is partnering with Human Rights Advancement and Advocacy Centre, an NGO, to check human rights violations before, during and after 2019 general elections.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Mr Tony Ojukwu, said this on Monday when the management of the group led by their Executive Director, Mr Ayodele Ameen, paid him a courtesy in Abuja.
He said that the commission would engage major stakeholders to sensitise Nigerians, especially women and youths in the rural areas to the need to safeguard their lives before and after the 2019 general elections.
Ojukwu also said that the commission had intensified effort at deploying election observers to monitor the impact of hate speech before and after the elections.
He said that the meeting was aimed at identifying the trouble areas purposely to advise relevant agencies to take preemptive measures to forestall violence.
The NHRC boss said the commission had been proactive at ensuring effective advocacy for elections free of human rights abuses.
In his response, the Executive Director of the NGO, Mr Ayodele Ameen, said, the purpose of the visit was to discuss issues of human rights abuses ahead of 2019 general elections.
Ameen said that the group had engaged other stakeholders on advocacy to ensure free and secured elections.
The executive director expressed concern on the raising cases of human rights violations during electioneering.
He, however, urged the relevant agencies to punish any political party or individuals who engage in electoral violence.
He expressed their readiness to collaborate with NHRC to source funds to organise a capacity-building workshop for staff and other agencies ahead of 2019 general elections (NAN).
