The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, has released a set of standard minimum guidelines for the protection of the rights of Covid-19 patients across Nigeria.
The Commission, which also wants the isolation centres to be referred to as treatment centres, said the guidelines were issued in line with its mandate to protect and promote human rights in accordance with its establishment Act and the 1999 Constitution.
Following several human rights abuses reported during the Covid-19 lockdown in Nigeria and other parts of the world, the Commission in Nigeria swiftly put in place some measures to curb the human right abuses.
This time, the Commission sees need to take further steps by releasing guidelines specifically for the protection of Covid-19 patients.
Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu, said the guidelines are designed to reflect the physical, emotional, and mental needs of Covid-19 patients including vulnerable persons such as victims of domestic violence and the Almajiri children who are subjected to relocation to their states of origin.
Other major highlights of the guidlines are the protection of health workers.