Actionaid Nigeria has called on the federal government to declare state of emergency on rape, following the alarming cases of rape across the country.
Country Director of Actionaid Nigeria, Mrs Ene Obi made the call during a one-day Women’s summit on preventing violent extremism in Nasarawa state.
Obi, who was represented by the Manager, Humanitarian and Resilience, David Habba, stated that Nasarawa state currently has the worst case of rape, where a three-month old baby was raped by a 27-year-old man.
She explained that while women rarely take part in conflict, they are often the most affected, ranging from psychological, emotional, physical to mental loss which continues decades after the conflict has ended.
The Actionaid country director expressed concern over the rising number of sexual violence against women since the outbreak of the COVID-19 and called for a state of emergency to be declared on sexual violence.
“We see the issue of rape as an urgent issue, we are calling on the government to again look at the issue of rape of women as an urgent issue, and to declare a state of emergency,” she said.
She stated that AAN was happy with the success that the National Assembly has recorded, however, they want to see that it go beyond paper work.
“We are calling them to match their words with action. We want to see people go to jail for rape, we want to see rehabilitation services taking place for rape victims, that survivors of sexual violence are rehabilitated” she stated.
Wife of the governor of Nasarawa state, Hajiya Silifat A Sule thanked Actionaid Nigeria for the initiative and assured that she will not rest until sexual violators in the state face the wrath of the law.
According to the First Lady, her foundation is handling the case of the three-month-old baby defiled,/promising to ensure that the culprit is brought to book to serve as deterrent to others.
Actionaid Nigeria In partnership with Global Peace Development (GPD) and Beacon Youth Initiative (BYI) through its System and Structure Strengthening Approach Against Radicalization to Violent Extremism ( SARVE) project, funded by the Global Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) is sensitizing and building the capacity of women from the grassroots to understand and demand for their basic rights.
