H.E Dr. Tivlumun Innocent Ahure, Global Director General/Ambassador-at-Large of the International Human Rights Commission, (IHRC) with UN ECOSOC accreditation has received an Inside Story on the killings in the last week of 2023 in Nigeria. The views of the report condemns in the strongest of terms the killings of over one hundred and sixty people in Plateau State of North Central, Nigeria. The IHRC Country Director for Nigeria, Amb. Abdullahi Adamu Bakoji pointed out that the recent attacks have been severally described as reprisals by some ‘aggrieved’ people.

Don’t forget that the most fundamental of human rights and freedoms is the right to life. It is the mother of all rights; if it taken away from people every other right is gone. United Nations Human Rights Commission Article 3 states that: ”Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” said Amb Abdullahi Adamu Bakoji. He concluded that “by this, human life is made sacred, and this right should not be violated without just cause”.

IHRC believes that jungle justice is a negation of the rule of law and it has been observed that people resort to taking the law into their hands because of the failure of the authorities to take the appropriate action at the instance of the first act of aggression. Perpetrators of heinous crimes should always be apprehended timely to ensure that justice is done without unnecessary delays. It is therefore pertinent to emphasize that the Nigerian government should guard against the breakdown of law and order in the country by directing the security agencies to always harmonize their operations by sharing intelligence reports and work swiftly in a collaborative manner to immediately nib in the bud any potential security threats.

IHRC advises security agencies to swing into action in order to fish out the perpetrators of the Plateau massacre and prosecute them accordingly without unnecessary delays. The security agencies should in addition, gather intelligence information and use it to prevent reprisal attacks that would further endanger the lives of innocent people. The IHRC will keep watch on this matter and all other cases of infringement of the people’s fundamental human rights. In this regard the Global Director General said his office will continue to follow events as they unfold regarding the struggle to ensure justice is done in respect to earlier reported deaths of the people killed at Tudun Biri, Igabi Local Government of Kaduna State (North West) Nigeria, as a result of the ‘accidental’ bombing of a Maulud celebration site.