By Joyce Asuquo
Owing to the prevalence of sexual abuse of children, women and people with disabilities in the country, the First Lady, Dr Aisha Buhari and the Nigerian Governors Forum have condemned such violent act against the vulnerable group of citizens.
This was contained in a statement from the Office of the First Lady and made available to newsmen in Abuja.
The Forum said it has observed with dismay, the intense levels of violence against women and children in the country. “We empathize with survivors of these heinous acts and urge them to be courageous in speaking up, no matter how long it takes. We salute them!.
The statement read, !we lend our voices to that of our First Lady, HE Dr Aisha Buhari, who recently called for action to be taken on the increasing rate at which women and children are being sexually abused in Nigeria. On a daily basis, we are inundated with cases of defilement (of even babies of six months old), rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment and murders of women and children.
It is also worrisome that women and children with special needs have also become targets of sexual violence. We note with concern that in spite of the existence of laws at the federal level such as the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act of 2015 as well as legislations at State level to protect the well-being of women and children, perpetrators continue their despicable acts with impunity. On the rare occasions when incidences of rape are reported, victims are intimidated and shamed into silence”.
Meanwhile, the First Lady and the Forum has called on the Inspector-General of Police to treat rape and defilement cases with the speed and seriousness such cases deserve, in order to ensure justice for victims.
Further, they called on the Attorney General of the Federation as well as State Attorney Generals to fast track cases of rape and defilement through Special Offences Courts for rape and defilement cases and to be charged to the courts and heard without undue delays.
