The Edo State Civil Society Organisations have urged the judiciary to step up in its responsibility of upholding the rights of Nigerians in cases of violations.

The Coordinator General of the group, Mr. Omobude Agho, decried the high level of human rights violation which he said dated back to the military era.

Omobude, who spoke at an event to mark the 2014 World Human Rights Day in Benin, the Edo State capital, noted that the situation had not been better in the present democratic dispensation.

While explaining that the civil society organisation in Nigeria had been in the forefront of human rights protection and enforcement through public education, he, however, called on Nigeria to always stand for what is rightly theirs even in the face of oppression.

“You would agree with me that in our society today, there are lots of human rights violations that range from police brutality and extra-judicial killings, illegal detention, rape, murder, slavery and servitude, right to speech denial, to name a few.

“The fight against human rights violation is a huge one and everyone of us must be involved.

“The judiciary must rise up to the occasion to save the weak from the oppressors,” Agho said.