Fathers now abandon children, wives in Gombe, cite hardship, poverty —NHRC

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) says it recorded 339 alleged human rights violation cases in Gombe State in 2024.

Its spokesman, Mr Ali Alola-Alfinti, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe on Friday.

Alola-Alfinti said that majority of the cases were on parental neglect where fathers abandon their children and wives, citing economic hardship and poverty as reasons for their actions.

He said the cases were on the increase due to sustained enlightenment campaigns on human rights violations in the state.

According to him, the commission engages civil society organisations, media, religious and community leaders to educate the people and encourage them to speak out against the menace.

“We are now getting more victims coming to report. This is good for the campaign against rights violations.

“Silence remains a major challenge in the fight against rights violations as protection of rights will not be possible if cases are not reported.

“The commission recorded 339 cases, and we believe it is as a result of the support from other relevant stakeholders.

“The highest in terms of cases is parental neglect with about 50 percent of the complaints, including family abandonment without food, clothing and shelter unlike before when we had fundamental human rights, especially right to life, dignity, inhuman or degrading treatments,” he said.

He said the commission had scaled up outreach to address issues of parental neglect and sensitised husbands to the need to fend for their families.

“Denying them of their rights is a punishable offence under the law,” he said, adding that rights protection was critical to conflict prevention and peaceful society.

“When we respect each other’s rights, we will have a peaceful community but when you infringe on another’s right,  there will be retaliation and a chaotic society,” he added.

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