By Dayo Benson

The International Human Rights Day was celebrated Tuesday. National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria (NHRC) led the country to join the rest of the world in commemorating the event. As part of the activities to mark the day, the NHRC organized a walk round Abuja. In this interview, Network of Human Rights Institutions in West Africa, Chairman, and NHRC Executive Secretary, Prof. Bem Angwe spoke on the significance of the celebration and related human rights abuses in Nigeria.

Excerpts:

What was the significant of the International Human Rights Day celebrated two days ago and how did the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria (NHRC) mark it?

This Year’s human rights day celebration was significant and symbolic. It was symbolic in the sense that it also commemorated the 20th year of the establishment of the office of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights. It was also the 20th year that the Paris Principles came into being. You will recall that in 1993, all the nations of the world that form the international community converged on Paris, France to establish what we refer today as the Paris Principles, which also evolved through a resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly.

So this year marked the 20th year since the coming into place of the Paris Principles, which in itself signifies the birth of national institutions that have the mandate for the promotion and protection of human rights around the world.

Was that all that made the International Human Rights Day symbolic?

This year’s celebration was very symbolic and the National Human Rights of Nigeria led the country in celebrating this day and collaborate with the rest of the countries of international community to celebrate this wonderful, memorable and significant day.

How did you do this?

Apart from the normal walk that took place around Abuja, the NHRC, through its branches all over the country, did similar walks across the States of the Federation. In addition to that, we held a press conference and we also had a national dialogue. This year’s theme was centered on the need to have peace and stability. In this case, we sought to balance security with human rights. If you balance security with human rights, the consequences will be that you are going to have peace and stability. At the event, we inaugurated Human Rights Ambassadors that will work tirelessly in assisting the commission to propagate and promote human rights in this country. So it was a very significant day in the history of human rights protection in Nigeria and in the history of the Human Rights Commission.

Recently, your Commission received commendations for excellent performance at the United Nations Universal Peer Review (UPR) session for Nigeria, what exactly happened at the review?

We are happy to state here that the NHRC triggered the chain of activities that led to the successful UPR review session for Nigeria. We drew the attention of the government, reminded government of the urgent and imperative need to prepare the country for the review and we also played an oversight role in overseeing all the processes and steps that were put in place by the Federal Government of Nigeria to prepare the country to come up and submit this report. The country followed all the processes required by the United Nations Human Rights Consul and we are happy to say that Nigeria did everything that was expected of the Federal Government to have a report that we can truly say was a peoples’ oriented report. The Federal Government involved all the requisite stakeholders in preparing this report and in validating the report. We are happy to report that Nigeria performed creditably well in terms of the commitment of the Federal Government of Nigeria towards the promotion and protection of human rights in this country.

Why did you say this?

I said so because notably, we can say that there have not been any conscious government policy to violate human rights in this country. Sadly, the activities of unknown and unidentified individuals in this country have brought great challenges or serious violations of human rights in this country. However, we do commend the efforts of the Federal Government to bring this to an end. Despite the challenges, the country’s record in respect of human rights is very good. We are also very happy with the performance of the country during the UN UPR review session.

The National Human Rights Commission has engaged in public hearings for some time now, what are the results of this exercise?

Specifically the Council of the Commission, upon the recommendation of the Secretariat, resolved that this commission do carry out public inquiries on alleged demolitions and forced evictions taking place across the country. Following the resolution of the Council, the commission has embarked on the public inquiries which commenced with a public hearing in Lagos on November 18.

Before the end of the week, the panel of the commission held public sittings,   received, heard and considered petitions from aggrieved persons within the South West   zone of the country which comprise of about six States. A lot of petitions came before the commission against the government of Lagos State, the   Federal Government of Nigeria   and against the government of Ogun State. There were alleged violations relating to   demolitions and violation of the right to shelter of the petitioners.

So, what was the outcome?

Well, I am glad to let you know that the petitioners appeared personally and through their counsel and the various States governments were equally represented. The Attorney- General and Minister of Justice sent a team of lawyers to represent the Federal Government and the agencies that were involved. The Attorney-General of Ogun State appeared before us personally, a team of lawyers also appeared to represent the government of Lagos State.

What happened at the panel?

After listening to the petitioners, their witnesses and received submissions from counsel representing the respondents, the panel and the parties inspected the sites where the alleged demolitions took place. We also observed that the hearings could not be concluded at that first sitting, so the commission now adjourned further hearings at the South West Zone to January 2014. In January, the panel will continue further hearings and then conclude its sittings and before March, full decisions will be taken by the council with a view to enforcing the rights of the aggrieved persons who came before the commission in line with the law establishing the commission and due processes provided by the  Rules and Procedures  of the commission.

We recently read in the print media that you were in   Enugu to investigate allegations of wife imprisonment against Enugu State Governor, what actually happened and what is the result of your investigation?

Well,   the Commission received a petition from the petitioner,   the Commission’s power was invoked and we led a team of investigators of the Commission., We went to Enugu State Government House, we met all the parties. The investigation is still continuing and by the time we finish with the investigations, the Commission will take appropriate decision and the decision will be made public   for every interested party to know the outcome of the investigation. But for now, the investigation continues.

As the chairman of the Network for Human Right Institutions in West Africa, what are you doing to improve the promotion and protection of human rights  in the sub-region?

What is happening is that the Network is carrying out training and capacity building programmes for all the countries in West Africa. We carried out the training programmes in Cote D’ Ivoire,  in Ghana,and in Liberia. We are going to Mali on December 16, and after that,   we are going to Togo. We will come to Nigeria and the rest of the countries in West Africa. What is happening is that the Network is determined to bring about a platform   whereby all the human rights institutions in West Africa will have their capacities developed and should be able   to carry   out uniform processes with regards to the protection of rights of aggrieved persons within the sub-region.

What is the essence of this?

The essence is for us to be able to comply with the Paris Principles  and to take all such actions and processes that  will ensure the protection and enforcement of the rights of all persons within the ECOWAS community that is what the Network is doing now. By next year, the Network will embark on other activities that will ensure that the West African countries focus  towards  achieving the singular goal of ensuring the  promotion and protection of  human rights within the sub-region.

But most importantly, we are trying to come up with an international conference within the sub-region to deal specifically with the strategies that can be adopted  in bringing to an end this issue of terrorism that has become a cross border challenge in the region. It does not only happen here in Nigeria, but it is going round the whole of West African coast and there is a need for the West African countries to come together,   to brainstorm. Appropriate steps would be taken to ensure that terrorism is brought to an end within the sub- region. It is not something that countries will   need to take   individual actions, it requires international co-operation, it requires most African countries coming together   to adopt appropriate strategies that will address this problem that is today challenging the enjoyment of human rights in the sub-region.