@Ota Udeh
Amnesty International Nigeria has stepped up efforts to deepen grassroots human rights advocacy through the training of young defenders in Cross River State on data collection, documentation, and community engagement.
The initiative was carried out during a two-day training programme for 30 young human rights defenders in Calabar, under the project titled “Strengthening Human Rights Defenders to Protect Civic Space,” supported by the German Embassy Fund.
Speaking at the training, facilitator Folahan Johnson stressed the importance of credible data in exposing human rights violations, influencing public policy, and driving meaningful reforms.
According to him, advocacy efforts are often weakened when they are not backed by verifiable facts and evidence.
“ If we don’t communicate it to governments particularly or any organization that is going to fix the problem. You cannot communicate the extent of a problem if you are not measuring it. Data is very important in any conversation around human rights violations and protection in Nigeria,” Johnson said.
He explained that reliable data must be sourced from credible channels and supported with evidence such as eyewitness accounts, photographs, official reports, and corroboration from multiple sources.
Johnson decried what he described as Nigeria’s weak data culture, noting that planning and policy implementation in the country are often undermined by decisions that are not evidence-based.
“One of the fundamental problems we have in Nigeria is that we do not take data seriously. Development planning, governance and even security responses should be based on accurate data rather than sentiments,” he said.
He further noted that human rights data can assist authorities in identifying patterns of abuse and designing targeted interventions to address them.
According to him, data showing repeated complaints against security personnel, for instance, could prompt relevant agencies to review recruitment processes, training programmes, and accountability systems.
Also speaking, the Programmes Manager of Amnesty International Nigeria, Barbara Magaji, said the training was designed to equip participants with practical skills in human rights documentation, advocacy, and community engagement.
She explained that the participants, drawn from Amnesty volunteers and social media influencers, are expected to act as human rights advocates within their various communities.
“We want people to become more conscious of their rights and understand how they can respond when violations occur. Human rights abuses happen in communities, villages and wards across the country, and these defenders will help create awareness and support affected persons,” Magaji said.
She added that the initiative is being implemented in Cross River, Kano, and Bauchi States as part of efforts to strengthen civic space and build a network of grassroots human rights defenders.
“We keep talking about human rights as everyone’s concern. Your rights, my rights. And we live in a global space where rights are violated at different times. So we would want more people to join from whatever country or state you are in. You can also join globally. You can be an Amnesty supporter from across the world. So we are happy and we hope that we receive such support also from other states,” she further noted.
Magaji stated that after the training, participants are expected to return to their communities to carry out advocacy campaigns on issues such as freedom of expression, access to healthcare, education, and other fundamental rights.
“So we expect that at the end of this training the volunteers will go to the community and carry out an activity which we call advocacy on one human rights issue.” she noted.
The training included sessions on ethical documentation of human rights violations, safety and security for defenders, data analysis, advocacy strategies, and community action planning.
Amnesty International said the programme is aimed at strengthening the capacity of young defenders to responsibly document abuses, analyse human rights trends, and contribute to evidence-based advocacy that promotes accountability and protects civic space across Nigeria.
