,,,,,Christian, Muslim, Traditional Leaders Join Forces.
By Correspondent in Minna.
Nigeria’s two major religions,Christianity and Islam in Niger state,have pledged to collaborate with traditional institutions, legal experts, and the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Dorothy Njemanze Foundation (DNF),to tackle Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the state.
They have also resolved to tie with the Niger State Ministry of Women Affairs in actualizing the common goal.
They made the pledge the commitment during an interfaith and cultural dialogue in Minna on Saturday,organized by Dorothy Njemanze Foundation SGBV tagged, “From Gatekeepers to Bystanders: The Role of Faith and Culture in Ending Harm”.
Dorothy Njemanze, the founder of the Foundation which focuses on providing free and confidential support to victims of SGBV amongst others,said the aims of the dialogue was to leverage the influences of faith, cultural leaders other critical stakeholders to promote measures that would curtail SGBV.
“We need to connect the door between palace and the law, religion and rights between life and save lives”, Dorothy said, adding that DNF shifted its approach to work with communities in taking proactive steps towards ending the trend instead of waiting to respond to violence.
Traditional rulers, she argued are not only custodians of culture, but cultural transformers.
She, therefore, urged them to use their palaces to not only end harm against the female folks but create safe society for every boy-child and girl-child or man and woman.
In their separate remarks, the village head of Maikunkele, Abdullahi Dada and Abubakar Mahmudu, the District Head of Etsu Audi Bida, who led three other community leaders from Bida Emirate where most of the SGBV cases were reported ,expressed commitment to joining forces in tackling the trend in their domains.
While acknowledging receiving cases of SGBV, the traditional rulers who commended the DNF for standing out to champion the cause of the victims and leading the way to end gender based biases,pledged to work with the agency to prevent such.
Also in their respective contributions, the Secretary of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Pastor Raphael Opawoye and Mallam Abubakar Yahaya, representing Ja’matul Nasiru Islamic (JNI), expressed readiness to evolve faith-based approaches to check SGBV, adding that their scriptures,Bible and Qur’an ,frowned at all forms of violence against women and girl child.
Mrs. Mary Yisa from the Ministry of Women Affairs, in her contributions, lamented the rising cases of SGBV and harmful practices against the girl-child, including forced marriage, rape and breast ironing.
Mary, who told the gathering that the Ministry receives report on cases of SGBV almost on a daily basis, said the trend is common among a particular religion sect, noting that the undesirable trend has left many of the victims traumatized,called for collective action by stakeholders to eradicate the menace.
Earlier, Niger state Director/Coordinator of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Dr. Mohammed Nuhu l, said his office has been collaborating with DNF in the past two year, noting that the development has helped tremendously in achieving the success story.
Mohammed, who is also Coordinating the Network for PARALEGALS working for DNF in the state, said the Commission’s mandate include the; promotion, protection and enforcing the rights of citizenry, including victims of SGBV in Niger state.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
