The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has started stakeholders’ community dialogue and advocacy against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NAPTIP dialogue and advocacy started with a visit to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
on Thursday, expected to go round the six area councils of the federal capital.
The Director-General of the agency, Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, said that the aim of the partnership with the area councils was to discuss the unique role
of community stakeholders toward reducing SGBV.
She said it was also aimed at making the stakeholders recognise early signs of abuse, intervene “and create a culture that does not tolerate violence.”
According to her, the dialogue is bringing 50 community leaders from traditional, religious, education, health, law enforcement, community-based
organisations and social institutions.
She added that the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act 2015 empowers NAPTIP to implement the provisions of the act in the FCT,
as well as appoint protection officers in the six area councils of the city.
The director-general explained that “the VAPP Act mandates NAPTIP to protect officers at the area council to assist the court, police and service providers in the discharge of their duties.
“In 2023, NAPTIP received 1,278 SGBV complaints from the FCT and top on the list were spousal battery, abandonment, inflicting physical injury on children and
rape. Rape was the highest in the FCT.
“We had four convictions in 2023, two live imprisonment and they all bothered on rape cases, 143 complaints were reported to protection officers in the six area councils.
“However, many cases were settled at the community level, this is to say that not all offences were reported to NAPTIP.
“But I want to make it clear that any community that sees rape as a matter to be settled within the community, is doing injustice to the victim.”
She, therefore, urged Nigerians to report any injustice in the communities, stressing that “advocating against SGBV requires a united front.”
On her part, the Director-General, National Senior Citizens Centre, Mrs Emem Omokaro, said the centre now has statutory mandate to identify the challenges of senior citizens and cater for them.
She added that the centre had been doing all it could to feature older persons’ issues in the affairs of Nigerians, adding that older persons face a lot of stereotype, prejudice and discriminations all because they are old.
“We must mainstream with the people at the area councils; older persons also encounter violence, including SGBV.”
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Hajiya Aisha Yusuf, the Gender and Social Welfare Officer of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), said that the major problem with laws against SGBV is implementation.
Mr Zakaria Dauda, the Head of Press and Public Relations Unit, NAPTIP, encouraged stakeholders in FCT area councils to take the fight against SGBV in their various domains seriously.
He advised law enforcement officers and medical personnel who are also stakeholders in the area councils to be professional in the discharge of their duties when it comes to violence against persons. (NAN)
