Rape: Convicted persons face stringent penalties in Gombe as government amends existing laws

Determined to reduce to the barest minimum, cases of violence against women particularly, rape which has become a nightmare, Gombe State Government has introduced an amendment bill to provide stringent penalties for those convicted of raping minors in the state.

The disclosure was made by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi while speaking at the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Stakeholders Advocacy meeting and capacity building workshop held in Gombe.

The SSG who was represented at the meeting by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Research and Documentation, Dr. Adamu Ahmed, said that prior to the coming of the present Inuwa Yahaya led APC administration, the state ranked high on the issue of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in the entire Northern region based on official statistics.

He boasted that, “However, the state has maintained zero tolerance policy on SGBV since inception of the present administration. The state government has sponsored new law which would provide stringent penalties for convicted rapist and molesters of young children,”.

Ibrahim Njodi added that, the six state governments in the subregion under the North East Governors’ Forum (NEGF) has set up a committee to come up with a unified law for adoption in the states to address the problem holistically.

While describing the intervention as timely, he commended the Japanese Government and UNESCO for the gesture which he believes will bring a lasting solution to the problem which has retarded progress in the educational process of getting the girl child back to school.

In her remarks, the Team Lead of UNESCO, Mrs Aneneh Magdalene, said that the project was being implemented in Bauchi, Delta and Gombe States which are considered more prone to gender violence issues.

Aneneh Magdalene also said that the project which was inaugurated in April 2021 would increase awareness on SGBV among young women in marginalized  communities, build the capacity of media on balance SGBV reportage and develop COVID-19 preventive messages as well as rights of women.

She added that, “Part of the project objective is to provide second chance education opportunities, incorporating training on COVID-19 preventive measures to women and girls particularly adolescents at risk of dropping out of school and young women who are facing intersecting marginalisation in the participating states,”. 

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Budget Planning and Development Partners Coordination, Dr. Isiyaku Mohammed, said that the project will impact positively on the lives of  adolescent girls and women in the state.

He described the high level of teenage pregnancy, early marriage and low contraception in the state as “unacceptable” which narrative must change positively. 

He also said that the state government was being supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other development partners, adding that it had achieved progress as it leveraged on the existing structures.

According to him, there are trained psycho-social counselors in the state Ministry of Women Affairs who are managing SGBV survivors and established SGBV technical committees.

Isuyaku Mohammed said that, “As you go along with the implementation of the project, it is also to approach it as study to harvest as much information so that we can analyse and see where we will improve,”. 

Fifty participants drawn from Community Based Organisations (CBOs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and stakeholders attended the exercise after which they were expected to step down the training in their respective communities.

The training was designed to build the capacity of the stakeholders in order to fast track implementation of the UNESCO’s empowerment project for women and girls in marginalized communities in the states of implementation as supported by the Government of Japan to focus at improving the wellbeing of women through education and advocacy.

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