From Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
Ebonyi State government has said that it would no longer condone further dehumanisation of women and children in the state over flimsy reasons including obnoxious cultural practices.
Women in several communities of the state are subjected to barbaric widowhood practices while those accused of committing one offence or another, including witchcraft are usually meted with extra-judicial treatments.
The new Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Felicia Nwamkpuma, a legal practitioner, has condemned all such practices and vowed that her ministry would deploy all legal means to stop the trend.
Nwankpuma who spoke in Abakaliki, the state capital, described such mob action as not only human rights violations, but also breaches many provisions of the constitution.
She urged everyone to always report the occurrences to government agencies.
She disclosed some of the approaches to be used in the campaign against the unlawful practices and other related cruel acts to include engaging the traditional rulers of all the communities across the state, town union presidents, village heads, women leaders, political office holders and other critical stakeholders on enlightenment on the issue.
She emphasised the ministry’s readiness of the state to get rid of ruthless treatment against persons who might encounter such public humiliation, adding that the government was poised to protect all the genders especially the females.
“I want to thank His Excellency, Chief Francis Nwifuru for giving me the opportunity to serve in his government and he has also directed that we should hit the ground running to showcase what we have for Ebonyi people and by mere seeing his policies, he has good packages for the women,” she said.
The Commissioner indicated that the ministry in collaboration with the office of the governor’s wife, will do everything possible to ensure that its services are stepped down to the grassroots.
According to her, they will provide such services as remand homes for rehabilitation, fight against human trafficking, implementation of Child Rights Law and work against domestic violence.
“We will ensure that the impact of leadership is stepped down in all the nooks and crannies of the state and I am equally appealing that the newsmen should always get clarifications on issues concerning my office before publications would be made,” she said.
Nwankpuma also disclosed that her office would do the needful in the cases of rape, battering and banishment by sensitizing everyone adequately starting from the capital city to the villages and possibly to the churches and schools on the Child Rights Law that protects every child.
The Commissioner frowned at the attitude of some people mostly the rural dwellers that conceal the incidences of rape, child prostitution and other illegal acts or in most cases, decide to settle such heinous offences at the community levels rather than reporting them to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other security agencies.
Nwamkpuma noted: “Once a proper report is made or if we happen to be provided with such information on time, the ministry will follow such matter up, this is why we will sensitize the people on the need to make official complaints and seek protection from government through our agencies and once the needful is done, the ministry will give its back-up.”
The Commissioner also condemned the situations where some persons had been killed, maimed, ostracised, tortured and publicly humiliated over the accusations of witchcraft whereas there is no legal prove over such action. She urged people to desist from every obnoxious practice that does not have scientific validity.
She disclosed that the ministry had already prepared a memo containing all the strategies capable of yielding positive result which could be put into use once it is approved.
In addition, she said that her office would liaise with the governor’s wife’s office and the Ministry of Justice to summarize the relevant laws and make the documents accessible to the members of the public to enhance their understanding in the campaign.
“We can publish Child Rights Law of Ebonyi State and NAPTIP law in form of pamphlets and give to our audiences, they can be accessed online as part of our strategies,” she stated.