Ben Angwe, Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, has said that the Commission would ensure that appropriate punishment is imposed on persons, particularly private school proprietors who defy the Federal government’s directive that schools remain shut till October 13. The directive came on the heels of fears over the need to curtain the spread of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, EVD.

Angwe disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday during an awareness programme organized by the commission on the rights of People Living HIV/AIDS.

He said flouting the directive by government, would be viewed as “a violation of peoples’ rights,” which it had a mandate to protect.

Angwe who also reiterated the dangers posed by discriminating against people living with HIV/AIDS, said the commission would recommend anybody who flouted the directive of the Federal Government on the closure of schools before October 13 for prosecution.

“First and foremost, we are issuing an advisory or a directive, advising Federal Ministry of Education and all Ministries of Education to ensure that schools comply,” he said.

“Where we receive a report of any particular school reopening before that day, once it is brought to our attention, we will put in place the requisite machinery that will ensure that such authorities or that person responsible for the reopening of that school is prosecuted,” he said.

Angwe added that the commission would do everything possible to protect the rights of people.

He also warned that the commission would ensure that anybody caught in any act of willful infection of innocent Nigerians with HIV/AIDS or the Ebola Virus Disease was punished.