By Aderogba George, NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA
Chairman, Abaji Area Council, FCT, Mr Abubakar-Umar Abdullahi, has urged the Federal Government not to relent in sensitising the public about ills of human trafficking and gender-based violence.
He made the appeal on Tuesday in Abuja at one-day stakeholders community dialogue and advocacy against Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV).
The event was organised by National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
He said it was important for NAPTIP to scale up public awareness on the provisions of Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act.
Abdullahi who was represented by the Vice-Chairman, Alhaji Isah Makah, Abdullahi suggested that the programme should be held quarterly in the area.
He said though there were no reported cases SGBV in the entire Abaji communities there was need for increased sensitisation platforms regarding provisions of VAPP Act.
Also, the Ona of Abaji, Alhaji Adamu Baba-Inusa, represented by Alhaji Musa Haruna,
said that knowledge of the VAPP Act will guide the public on their limits when relating with women and girls.
Earlier, NAPTIP Director-General, Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, said that 35 out of 36 states of the federation had domesticated this Act.
According to her only Kano remained the only state that had not domesticated the Act.
Waziri-Azi said that in 2023, NAPTIP received many complain from the FCT about SGBV, adding that were spousal assault, abandonment and physical injuries to children.
According to her, rape is the third highest complain the agency received, adding that secured the conviction of four persons in prisons on in 2023.
She said that in 2024 alone, NAPTIP had put seven (7) people in prison following the crimes of SGBV, while cautioning Abaji communities to be aware of that.
“We didn’t received any complain from Abaji, this is not encouraging because we believe that things should be happening here.
“Critical cases such as rape, incest should not be settled at the community level, we must avoid protecting offenders; these are serious crimes before the law.
“We also do not condone obstruction of NAPTIP officers while carrying out their lawful duties. We are currently prosecuting three persons suspected to have committed this crime.
“Also, the Child Rights Act (CRA) must be upheld by every parent. Parents should not shun their children when they are reporting cases of SGBV to them.
“We encouraged parents to make use of our reporting channel on 07030000203 and 627 short code on MTN and Airtel, these reporting channel are always.
“Give us proper information that will help us in doing our work,” the D-G said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the stakeholders were taken through different lectures, including “Understanding Offences under the VAPP Act; and the “Role of Stakeholders in Responding and Preventing SGBV” (NAN)