The Federal Government is working towards the establishment of specialised courts and judicial divisions as part of efforts aimed towards addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the country.
Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, (SAN), made this known while speaking at a virtual session on “Special Event on Gender Dimensions of Criminal Justice Responses to Terrorism” organized by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime as part of events commemorating the International Women Day held at Kyoto, Japan on the 8th day of March 2021.
Dr Umar Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations to the minister said in a statement, on Monday, that
Malami inaugurated an Inter-Ministerial Management Committee on Eradication of SGBV last year to address the crime.
He said, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, the Complex Case Group under the Office of the AGF leads in the efforts to bring suspected terrorists to justice and also work to include sexual violence-related charges against Boko Haram suspects in collaboration with the military, police and other security service investigators from the multiagency Joint Investigation Centre, in North-East Nigeria.
Malami said the current administration also know well that giving a voice to women is an important aspect of development as women are important agents of positive change and noted with dismay that terrorist groups continue to kidnap and commit sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls.
He noted that preventing these crimes and bringing those who commit these acts to justice remains a priority of the Federal Government and added that the perpetrators targeted this group of people possibly to scare them from schooling.
“The Nigerian Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies are working day and night to combat insecurity, terrorism, kidnapping and abduction of people in the country. We must work to prevent both male and female perpetrators from carrying out these acts and support those who have been victims,” he said.
In another development, the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Tony Ojukwu, said women deserve a future free from any form of violence.
The Deputy Director Public Affairs of the Commission, Fatimah Agwai Mohammed, said in a statement that the Executive Secretary who stated this on the eve of the International Women Day said women are the reason for the growth of the human race and play a crucial role in the development and, “Deserve an equal future free from stigma, stereotype and violence; the future that is sustainable, peaceful with equal rights and opportunities for all.”
The NHRC boss said this year’s theme, “Choose to Challenge” is apt, noting that we must all be ready to support the fight against inequality in all its ramifications and collectively help to create an inclusive world.
“Let’s all choose to challenge inequality and violence against women, equality for women is progress for all, countries with a higher level of gender equality have higher economic growth and better protection for rights of women.”
The human rights boss said as an institution mandated to promote and protect human rights; the Commission has in recent time passionately chosen to focus on issues affecting women, especially Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) which he described as one of the major impediments to the development of any society.
According to the Executive Secretary, the Commission has done a lot to address the issue of SGBV in so many ways including; setting up a Special Investigation Panel on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, made up of experts in the field of gender-based violence.
He called on the government to put machinery in place to “provide security in our public schools to encourage more girls to acquire education, as educating a girl child is educating a whole nation,” and to also make the implementation of safe the school declaration programme a priority as it would enhance the standard of education which in the long run will be beneficial to the girl child and the society at large.
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