By Ijeoma Obioma.
Stakeholders in Benue State under the Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) Justice Network (SJN) have called for the review of Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law (VAPPL) to provide for the observable gaps in the law.
They also called for the establishment of VAPPL Monitoring Team in Benue State.
The calls were made during a sensitisation session with media practitioners and journalists on Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) and VAPPL in Benue State.
The forum, an advocacy cluster under the USAID-funded Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE) project, led by Lawyers Alert, has seven members including Nigerian Union of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), League of Women Voters, CAISR and IKRA Foundation, LEADS, and Agbani Farms Limited.
The project strategizes to identifying and engaging relevant government sectors/actors towards ensuring effective justice service delivery to victims/survivors of SGBV in a transparent and accountable manner across the five project locations.
Stakeholders at the meeting alleged that cases of SGBV were on the rise, stressing the need for stakeholders, including the media to step up efforts by amplifying advocacy and implementation of laws towards eradicating SGBV in the state.
Solumtochukwu Ozobulu, a senior legal officer with Lawyers Alert, an organisation committed to the promotion of human rights, and Irene Awunah- Ikyegh, a member of the network and National President of League of Women Voters of Nigeria (NILOWV), emphasized the need to review the Benue VAPPL and domicile its implementation in the newly established ministry of humanitarian affairs in the state.
Ozobulu said that the absence of a regulatory body vested with the implementation of VAPPL makes it difficult to hold people to account, underscoring the need to appointing a coordinator.
She identified other factors such as lack of budget, absence of special courts, police factor, family and society as some of the factors that are hindering victims of SGBV to speak up because “even if they do they don’t get justice.”
“if there are convictions” the issues around SGBV will be drastically reduced.
“VAPP does not have a monitoring team. So who should be held responsible?,” Solumtochukwu queried.
The senior lawyer added that SGBV is not peculiar to a particular gender or class and should concern all as she further noted that the team under the leadership of Lawyers Alert has developed a draft of a new VAPP encompassing the already identified gaps and urged the government to pass it into law.
On the part of the media, Chris Atsaka, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Chairman Zone D, of reiterated the commitment of journalists to their responsibility provided that the cluster body also lives up to its responsibility of feeding them with the right information.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
