The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) are to do more in areas of protecting Internally Displaced Person (IDPs) in detention facilities in insurgency affected areas of North East.
The Executive Secretary of the commission, Mr Tony Ojukwu, made this known in Yola at the End of year/2020 Proposal Finalization Meeting of projects organized by the commission in collaboration with UNHCR.
Ojukwu said 2020 projects would focus on access to justice and protection of IDPs and other vulnerable groups in detention facilities.
According to him, some of the displaced and vulnerable were suffering double jeopardy as they were suffering both displacement and detention.
“Despite their situation of displacement, they are needlessly detained without due process for minor offences,” Ojukwu said.
He lauded the effort of federal government and the military in combating violent extremism in north east, adding that has been on steady decline since 2015.
“We no more have territories under the captivity of boko haram, the number of insurgencies and related indiscriminate arrest had greatly reduced, with increase in the number of displaced persons returning to their communities.”
Ojukwu called for concerted effort by stakeholders to continue to work as a team to improve on the protection needs of the population concern.
On the issue of the reintegration of repentant boko haram into the communities, Ojukwu said there was need to prepare the minds of the people in such communities to take them back and give them a sense of belonging so as to discourage them from going back to the bad habits.
While commending UNHCR for it support since 2015 which he said had addressed numerous human rights and humanitarian challenges of the vulnerable group over a period of time.
Human right monitors at meeting expressed satisfaction at the successes recorded despite difficulties in the terrain the work in, adding that they would build on the successes recorded this year in 2020.
