Kano State Leads in Human Rights Complaints for 2025

In 2025, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) received a total of 3,724,822 complaints regarding human rights violations, with Kano State reporting the highest number at 3,019 cases. NHRC's Executive Secretary, Toni Ojukwu, disclosed these figures during an event in Abuja organized by the Women’s Forum at the ECOWAS Court of Justice.

Ojukwu called for stronger regional actions against gender-based violence, highlighting that 2,276 of the complaints were resolved while 743 remained under investigation. Ngozi Okori, representing the NHRC's Director of Women and Children, warned that gender-based violence continues to be a widespread human rights violation globally.

According to the 2018 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey, nearly one in three Nigerian women aged 15-49 has experienced physical or sexual violence, with Nigeria accounting for 10% of the global survivors of gender-based violence, affecting an estimated 20 million women.