The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), through its National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), headed by Mr Kabiru Elayo, on Friday, 25 September 2026, held a validation exercise for its 2025–2026 Annual Report, bringing together key government, security, justice and civil society stakeholders to review the draft report and strengthen its findings and recommendations.
The exercise followed the formal designation of the NHRC as Nigeria’s NPM under the NPM Designation Order 2024, in line with the country’s obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT).
Representing the Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission, Chief Tony Ojukwu, OFR, SAN, FICMC, at the event, the Director, Civil and Political Rights Department, Mr Halilu Adamu, delivered the opening remarks, highlighting the NPM’s independent monitoring of custodial settings across the country, its documentation of detention conditions, identification of systemic vulnerabilities and recommendations aimed at preventing torture and other forms of ill-treatment.
He said the validation exercise would help ensure that the Annual Report accurately captures the NPM’s operations, findings, interventions and policy recommendations, while aligning with domestic law, OPCAT obligations and applicable international standards.
The core of the exercise focused on a detailed review of the draft Annual Report, with participants examining its information, findings, analysis and recommendations to ensure that they are accurate, evidence-based, coherent and consistent with the NPM’s preventive mandate.
The process equally provided an opportunity for stakeholders working directly within the justice, security, custodial and human rights sectors to interrogate the report’s content, clarify information, contribute additional perspectives and assess the practical relevance of its recommendations.
The validation also paid attention to the distinct vulnerabilities experienced by women, children, persons with disabilities and other marginalised groups in custodial environments. The NPM’s preventive approach requires such vulnerabilities to be reflected in its assessments while maintaining confidentiality, ethical safeguards and the do-no-harm principle in handling information obtained from vulnerable persons and sources.
The technical session was facilitated by Ogechi Ogu, Executive Director, Public Awareness on Rights and Rehabilitation of Vulnerable Persons Initiative, who served as consultant to the exercise.
The work of the NPM is guided by six core principles: independence, prevention, confidentiality, constructive dialogue, participation and evidence-based assessment. These principles shape the Mechanism’s approach to monitoring places where persons are deprived of their liberty, with emphasis on preventing violations, maintaining confidentiality, engaging relevant authorities constructively and grounding findings and recommendations in credible evidence.
Representatives of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force and the Federal Ministry of Justice participated in the exercise.
The validation is expected to strengthen the final report as an evidence-based account of the NPM’s preventive monitoring activities and a practical tool for tracking recommendations and supporting improvements in custodial management and detention conditions across Nigeria.
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