Media practitioners, NHRC, others sue for peace

By Binta Shama

Abuja

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the media will focus on Northern and Eastern parts of the country for adherence to human rights laws and accurate information for lasting peace.
Acting Executive Secretary of the Commission, Mrs. Otis Anukpe Ovrawah, stated this during a programme tagged “The Media Consultation on the Report of Human Rights and Humanitarian Needs Rapid Assessment of the six states of the North-east,” yesterday in Abuja.
She said: “The Commission considers the media as a very first stakeholder in the national vendor on addressing the plight of citizens affected by this national challenge. It is our hope that in this engagement we will equip you with the necessary insights into the findings of this assessment with the due to holding the National interventions assess accountable.”
“It is our hope that the media will be adequately sensitised on the contents of the reports to be able to engage pretty bearers in the defense of proffering durable solutions in the affected areas” she added.
In her address, the programme analyst and the UNDP Project Focal Person, Ms Oyinye Ndubuisi, said the aim was to discuss “critically, happenings outside the ordinary context of the usual story leading to massive displacement of person’s rights and properties.”
The lead consultant of the Human Rights Assessment Report (North-East), Barrister Eze Onyekpere, said both NHRC and UNDP “came up with this idea to investigate deeper with positive results on what happened and why, giving a clearer picture to all Nigerians of activities in these communities.”
“The idea of the issues at hand gave us sample of population to interview, we had our literal review and sent questions, manuals and trained processors like NEMA and SEMA, etc, who were since inception involved with NHRC,” he said.