A civil society group, Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), has launched an online platform for tracking human rights violations.
The Executive Director of KDI, Bukola Idowu, said at the launch on Friday that the the platform, ‘Naija Civic Space,’ was borne out of the need to “move civic space conversation from isolated reports to structured evidence, from concern to action, and from silence to visibility.”
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Mr Idowu said the platforms came against the backdrop of increased violations, especially insecurity bedevilling the country.
He added that it was important to track the violations because “Nigeria is truly bleeding,” referencing the recent abduction of several pupils, students and school staff members in Oyo State.
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On 15 May, PREMIUM TIMES reported armed hoodlums riding motorcycles attacked Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, near Alawusa, as well as Community Grammar School and L.E.A Primary School in Esiele, in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Similarly, suspected Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgents attacked schools and homes in the rural community, initially leaving over 40 children unaccounted for. Most of the children are toddlers and lower primary pupils.
These incidents added to the report PREMIUM TIMES curated the human rights violations that shaped 2025. While the complaints covered a range of violations, they also raised questions about Nigeria’s commitment to security.
Call to action
Mr Idowu used the launch as an opportunity to call on CSOs to uphold their responsibilities in holding the government accountable.
He said, “Our nation is bleeding. And from the quiet desperation in our marketplace to the startle in our undesired community, the pain of common citizens has reached the breaking point.
“This is no longer a moment of partisan gain. Calculated standby or the comfortable neutrality of political manoeuvring…The luxury of political theatre belongs to a country at peace. But we are not at peace.
“The burden of rescue now falls scarily upon our shoulders, the Nigerian civil society leaders. Let us flood the public sphere with our uncompromised demand for accountability, security, and economic justice.”
Since November 2025, Nigeria has witnessed an increase in school abductions. In November, terrorists abducted 25 school girls from Maga Comprehensive Girls’ Secondary School in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, North-west Nigeria, and killed two teachers.
Within the same month, terrorists attacked St Mary’s School, a Catholic-owned institution in Papiri community, Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State, north-central Nigeria and abducted 265 students and staff members.
Similarly, data from the NHRC revealed that the number of violations steadily increased until it had grown threefold.
The same pattern is repeating itself in 2026. On 18 May, the NHRC said that it recorded 266,787 complaints of human rights violations, a 10,655 increase compared to the month of March at its monthly dashboard presentation.
The NHRC launched this monthly dashboard in Nigeria in 2024, bringing together data on human rights violations across the country. While most of the complaints are collated across their state offices, the innovation by KDI will help Nigerians promptly report a complaint from anywhere.
On Friday, Mr Idowu said the Naija Civic Space platform would help give Nigerians an opportunity to account for underreported complaints, Mr Idowu said on Friday.
He said the platform was built through consultation and collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Police Service Commission, the Ministry of Interior, and over 120 CSOs who have signed on to verify and track reports of violations on the platform.
He also noted that a fundamental problem in Nigeria is the lack of documentation and reliable data, hence the launch of the online platform for “citizens, civil society, media actors, human rights defenders, and communities to have a credible tool to report, track, and respond to issues affecting civic space and freedom across the country.
“When citizens can speak, organise, participate, and demand accountability without fear, democracy becomes stronger and more meaningful,” he said.
Why the platform matters
Speaking on the importance of the civic space platform, Abiodun Banjoko, senior programme manager at KDI, said that when space shrank, public trust declines, citizen engagement declines, human rights protection became vulnerable, and democratic participation declined.
There are also restrictions on freedom of expression, misinformation/digital manipulation, and harassment of civic actors, Mr Banjoko said.
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He said the platform aimed to address gaps of weak coordination and response systems, limited digital tools for civic engagement and difficulty accessing timely civic information.
He added that it would strengthen civic participation, encourage accountability and transparency, improve access to civic information, support collaboration and coordination.
Femi Adebayo, the head of research and strategy at KDI, gave a live demonstration on how to access the platform. The link to the platform is www.naijacivicspace.com
A similar innovation is the Press Attack Tracker (PAT West Africa) by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), as part of its solution to fight against press attacks. The CJID launched the PAT West Africa on 7 May.
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