The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Hope Behind Bars Africa (HBBA) have partnered on a justice-tech driven initiative aimed at improving access to legal representation and monitoring human rights abuses
The Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Dr Tony Ojukwu, SAN, made this known on Tuesday, at the presentation of the July monthly dashboard of human rights violations complaints.
Ojukwu said the duo entered into a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration on human rights protection, access to justice, civic space, digital rights, and accountability in Nigeria.
According to him, as Nigerians increasingly live, work, transact, and organise online, the frontline of human rights violations is shifting from physical spaces long monitored to digital spaces that many citizens now inhabit daily.
“It is in this regard that I am pleased to announce today that the NHRC is entering into partnership with the Hope Behind Bars Africa on a new initiative.
“Justice Tech-Node, it is envisioned as an integrated approach to addressing technology-enabled harm and strengthening Nigeria’s broader technology justice ecosystem.
“It reflects a simple but urgent truth: as harm evolves, so must our response to it,” he said.
Ojukwu noted that HBBA had demonstrated commitment to advancing the rights, welfare, and dignity of vulnerable persons.
He added, it is now extending that same spirit of protection into the digital space, where too many Nigerians, particularly the young and the marginalised, remain exposed.
‘Today, we formalise that relationship further through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to deliver even more measurable outcomes for the Nigerians who need it most.
“The Justice Tech-Node is prevention minded by design, it seeks to get ahead of technology-enabled harm before it multiplies,” he said.
Speaking further on the partnership, Mrs Funke Adeoye, Executive Director, HBBA noted that it is an opportunity to deepen the work they have been doing to close Nigeria’s justice gap.
She noted that this partnership is about bringing institutional mandate and grassroots experience together to respond more effectively to the realities people face within Nigeria’s justice, civic and digital spaces.
“Technology is rapidly changing the way Nigerians interact with the justice system.
“It is creating new opportunities for access to information, legal assistance and accountability, but it is also creating new forms of harm.
“Digital surveillance, online harassment, technology-facilitated abuse, unlawful restrictions on digital expression, the misuse of emerging technologies and other technology-driven harms increasingly have consequences for fundamental rights,” she said.
She added in all these, the conversations around technology and justice often happen in silos.
According to her, lawyers may not always understand the technology, technologists may not understand the legal and human rights implications of the systems they build.
She said Civil Society Organisations might identified emerging harms without having the tools or networks to respond effectively.
”Justice institutions, in turn, need better access to expertise and evidence to respond to these rapidly evolving challenges.
“The Justice Tech-Node is intended to help bridge that gap.
“Our objective is to create a collaborative platform where justice institutions, civil society organisations, lawyers, technologists, researchers, innovators and other actors within Nigeria’s digital ecosystem can come together to identify technology- enabled harms.
“To exchange knowledge, develop practical responses and contribute to a stronger technology and justice ecosystem,” she said.
Earlier, Ojukwu revealed that July Human rights complaints stood at 354,997.
This figure, he said, alongside insights painted a sobering picture of the scale of human rights concerns Nigerians continue to face.
He noted that the dashboard offers not just numbers, but a graphical snapshot of where these violations are concentrated, the trends driving them, and the areas demanding urgent
attention.
He noted the persistent patterns of human rights violations especially affecting women and children.
“We must call for attention on sexual violence on children across the country which has come to a defining head in this past month with a record 25 sexual violence cases on children and minors from our human rights observatory.
“These are not just human rights violations but if not managed could have lasting impact on the health and mental well-being of the survivors.
“Online harassment, cyberbullying, data exploitation, digital surveillance, blackmail and extortion facilitated through technology, and the deliberate weaponisation of digital platforms to incite hatred and violence are no longer emerging concerns; they are present, documented, and growing,” he said.
