ABUJA–The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, on Friday, advocated for the enactment of strict legislations that would ban cultism in all the institutions of learning in the country.

The Commission, while presenting its dashboard on human rights abuses for the month of April, however stressed that such legislations should be made in a way that would not affect the right of students to form associations that promote mutual co-existence and intellectual curiosity.

Presenting the human rights scorecard to newsmen in Abuja, the Mr. Hillary Ogbona, who is the Senior Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Chief Tony Ojukwu, SAN, decried that no fewer than 20 cultism related deaths were recorded in in three states of the federation in the month under review.

He bemoaned that cultism, especially in higher institutions of learning, has remained a long-standing menace in the country.

He stressed that activities of the cult groups, rooted in violence, intimidation, criminal behavior and other bizarre and illegal activities, not only pose grave threat to peace and security, but also pose a significant challenge to the enjoyment of fundamental human rights in the affected communities.

The NHRC, he said is committed to addressing the issue with a firm commitment to protecting and promoting human rights.

“The right to life and security which should be protected by the state faces significant threats in a society plagued by cultism. 

“Cult-related violence leads to loss of innocent lives, shattered families and devastated communities as cultists operate with impunity,” he added.

Meanwhile, the dashboard also showed that a total of 2,011 killings were recorded in the month of April, out of which 82 of them were attributed to activities of bandits, while 99 cases of kidnapping were recorded.

The NHRC disclosed that the North -West region recorded the highest number of cases, 74, adding that 13 security and law enforcement agents were also killed in the month of April.

Ogbona called on government at all levels  to rise up to their responsibility of protecting lives and properties of the citizens.

“The cycle of violence perpetuated by cultism erodes trust and undermines the right to a secure and peaceful society.

“We also call on all security agencies to step up protection of human life in line with the provision of Section 4(2)(b) of the Constitution”, he said and that, relevant authorities should ensure that schools and streets are safe for the people,” he stated.

Earlier in his remarks, the NHRC boss, Mr. Ojukwu, SAN, said the Commission was determined to make information on the human rights situation in the country accessible.

He said the establishment would continue to cooperate with government at all levels, civil society organizations, the media and international development partners towards the promotion, protection and enforcement of human rights in Nigeria.

Ojukwu insisted that the dashboard would assist the government to keep track of its obligations to national, regional and international human rights instruments and mechanisms.

“We have been rendering this report to the National Assembly and the government of Nigeria on an annual basis and this document has been a reference material accessible to all interested persons, authorities to gain insight on the status of human rights in Nigeria,” he added.