Rape: Reps Seek Domestication of Child Rights Act, VAPPA By States

– Gbajabiamila, State Assembly Speakers Meet

The House of Representatives is mounting pressure on State Houses of Assembly to domesticate the Child Rights Act and the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act amid the rising cases of rape and gender-based violence in Nigeria.

Findings by THE WHISTLER indicated on Tuesday that the issue was the agenda of a meeting the Speaker, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, just conducted via Zoom with some state assembly speakers.

Only on Monday, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Adamu, disclosed that the country recorded 717 rape cases within the first five months of 2020 alone.

The Zoom meeting, which was moderated by the Chairman of the House Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development, Hon Adewunmi Onanuga, was attended by some speakers, including those of Bauchi, Ekiti, Delta, Edo and Plateau states.

Gbajabiamila, while addressing the meeting, noted that sexual and gender-based violence was on the increase in the country and needed a collective effort of all stakeholders to be contained urgently.

He stated further, “We called this meeting to see what we can do. It is to also find out from states that have not domesticated these Acts, to know what exactly the problems are; what are the issues? How exactly can we collaborate from the federal level, from the House of Representatives, the National Assembly, in helping to domesticate these two laws, taking into consideration the different cultures and communities?

“We had a robust debate in the House of Representatives. We had very far-reaching resolutions that will address some of these issues. The bottom-line is we need to do something fast.”

THE WHISTLER recalls that Nigeria adopted the Child Rights Act in 2003, a product of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Act grants the child protection rights, survival rights, participation rights and general freedom.

However, investigations showed on Tuesday that 17 years after Nigeria adopted the convention, 11 out of the 36 states in the country had yet to domesticate the law.

Kaduna state was the last state in 2018 to domesticate the Act.

The 11 states still delaying the domestication are Yobe, Kano, Sokoto, Bauchi, Zamfara, Gombe, Adamawa, Jigawa, Kebbi, Borno and Katsina.

They have cited cultural and other beliefs for the delay and have asked that the law be amended to address such cultural concerns.

In the case of the VAPP Act, only nine out of the 36 states had domesticated it, leaving the majority of 27 yet to take actions on it.

Nigeria had recorded a spike in rape cases amid the raging COVID -19 pandemic, including the trending case of Vera Uwaila Omozuwa, a 22-year-old Microbiology student, who was raped and killed in a church in Benin, the capital of Edo state.

Speaking at the Zoom meeting, the Speaker of Bauchi State House of Assembly, Hon Abubakar Suleiman, said the bill to domesticate the VAPP Act had passed second reading in the state and was awaiting public hearing.

Suleiman, who doubles as the Chairman, North-East States’ Speakers, was given the mandate at the Zoom meeting to persuade his colleagues in other states in the zone to follow the example of Bauchi state.

The Special Adviser to the Speaker on Media and Publicity, Mr Lanre Lasisi, also gave insights into some of the resolutions taken at the session.

He stated, “The state assemblies are to also work with some members of the House of Representatives from states where the acts are yet to be domesticated for regular updates on the progression of the two Acts in their respective states.

“It was resolved further that the office of the speaker, relevant House committees and government agencies such as NAPTIP, NHRC, police will provide technical support to state legislatures in amending the two Acts to suit local circumstances to ensure timely consideration.

“Another resolution reached was that the House would work with state legislatures to sensitize key response actors and consider other protective laws as well as strengthen existing government agencies that have the mandate to protect and prosecute perpetrators of heinous crimes of sexual and gender-based violence in all forms.

“Similarly, it was resolved that Gbajabiamila would next week send the resolutions arrived at in a letter to all state legislatures that have yet to domesticate the VAPP Act and the CRA to reflect the urgency of the matter.”