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The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has called on the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and other law enforcement agencies to rejig their strategies of fishing out criminals and enemies of the state, who fuel insecurity, to restore citizens’ confidence in the government.

NHRC made the call in Abuja, yesterday, during the 2021 National Day of Mourning and Remembrance of Victims of Mass Atrocities (NDMRVMA).

Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu, said: “The festering criminalities are gross violations of the fundamental human rights of citizens, which the government at all levels must rise and tackle head-on.”

According to Ojukwu, this year’s NDMRVMA is an avenue to remind the government of its primary purpose, which is the security and welfare of the citizenry as enshrined in Section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution.

Ojukwu regretted that recent “ethno-religious conflicts, banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling, land disputes and tensions between pastoralists and farmers, resulting in loss of lives and displacements, have unfortunately become the order of the day.”

He added: “It is on this note the commission is pressing for a stronger national response, because it seems there is no end to the cycle of escalated violence, which is fuelled by impunity, given that perpetrators are rarely brought to justice.”

The NHRC scribe observed that mass atrocities in the country increased the level of poverty, non-access to education, sexual and gender-based violence, non-access to clean water and sanitation, healthcare, poor access to justice and serious violation of international humanitarian and human rights law.

Against the foregoing, he called on the government and the law enforcement agencies to explore new strategies to curb the rising criminalities, as well as strengthen all institutions involved in providing security in the country and ensure accountability for mass atrocities in Nigeria.