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From John Adams, Minna
The wife of the Niger State Governor, Dr Amina Abubakar Sani Bello, has described as worrisome the rising cases of gender-based violence of women and the girl child in the state.
The wife of the governor raised the alarm at the palace of the Emir of Minna on Thursday during a town hall meeting with major stakeholders organised by the state Gender-Based Violence management committee, saying that between January and May this year alone, no fewer than 100 cases of gender-based violence have been reported across the state.
She pointed out most of these cases are rape, and of the minor who are usually engaged in street hawking.
According to her, ‘this number could be more but this 100 are the reported cases we have between January this year to May,’ stressing that ‘we need the cooperation of everyone to be able to tackle this menace which has sent some innocent women and girls to their early grave.’
Although she disclosed that gender-based violence is a global phenomenon, lack of education of the girl child and poverty among the women are largely responsible for the growing trend in the country.
The governor’s wife who is the Chairperson of the Gender-Based Violence Management Committee in the state called for the education of the girl child and the empowerment of the women in order to minimise the rate of gender-based violence in the state and the country at large.
Dr Amina Bello expressed worry over what she called lack of implementation of the relevant laws that will deal with perpetrators of this crime against women and the girl child in the state, stressing that ‘part of the function of the Gender-Based Violence Management Committee is to ensure that the legal policy frame is implemented properly and the laws are applied.’
Earlier, the State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Fati Tasala, in her welcome address admitted that gender-based violence has become a huge problem to society, adding that the case has been on the steady increase in recent times.
She warned that life-threatening acts against the women and the girl child must be stopped and expressed optimism that the Gender-Based Violence Management Committee will work assiduously to deal with menace in the state.
