By Peter Uwumarogie
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Gombe State, said it received no fewer than 48 complaints of alleged human rights violations between January and March.
The Public Relations Officer of NHRC in the state, Ali Alola-Alfinti stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe on Thursday.
Alola-Alfinti said out of the 48 cases of human rights violations received, 22 were on domestic violence, seven on battery and two rape cases amongst others.
He said that 39 of the reported cases were resolved by the commission through alternative dispute resolution, while others were either referred to court or to the police for further investigation and prosecution.
Alola-Alfinti said that after mediating on cases and resolving them, officials of the commission are mandated to monitor to ensure that all parties are complying with the terms of agreement reached amongst the partners.
He said there were concerns on the increasing cases of domestic violence in the state, which he blamed on lack of understanding and tolerance amongst family members.
“Of all the human rights violations reported, domestic violence is always the highest and analysis of the cases showed that, misunderstanding and lack of tolerance are the major reasons for domestic violence.
“In the commission, we make efforts to protect, promote and enforce human rights; it is in this regard that we always make it clear that there is no justification for violence against anyone.”
He advised couples and families living in the State to love one another, have the fear of God, employ good communication, listen more and learn to tolerate one another as “these will help them live in peace.
“The negative impact of domestic violence on the psychology of our children is always immeasurable and this is why we have embarked on campaigns against human rights violations.
“We have been engaging religious and community leaders as well as traditional institutions to propagate our message towards the protection of human rights across the state,“he said.
The spokesperson appealed to residents to always report cases of human right violations in their communities, adding that silence helped to increase the cases. (NAN)
