Traditional rulers in Adamawa vow to ensure GBV free society
Traditional rulers in Adamawa State have vowed to use their clout and influence to ensure the enthronement of Gender Based Violence (GBV) free society in their domains especially violence against women and children.
Making the vow Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim Mustapha, the district head of Girei and his counterpart, the district head of Nassarawo Abba, Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu Mustapha made the pledge during a separate advocacy and sensitization visit by Adamawa State chapter of the federation of women lawyers (FIDA).
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The advocacy visit was organized by Rule of Law and Anti-corruption (RoLAC II) with support from European Union.
In his presentation, Mustapha, a renowned advocate on gender based violence and harmful cultural norms urged the people to come out and expose any form of GBV as the culture of silence being practiced is also a crime that may attract severe punishment.
He thanked FIDA for its doggedness and tireless efforts at ensuring that the scourge is reduced to the barest minimum in the state.
The traditional ruler blamed parents for the preponderance of GBV due to their carefree attitude towards the welfare and concerns of their chidren. He urged those parents to make a detour and start engaging their children in meaningful conversations.
He noted that Girei district has zero tolerance against any form of violence especially GBV urging the district and village heads not to cover any such violence as it may attract severe penalties on both perpetrators and their conspirators.
Mustapha urged parents to immediately report any act of GBV for justice to take full course adding that he will never tolerate compromise or negotiation on any form of human rights abuse in his domain.
He also charged parents to watch the movements of their children with keen interest and to scrutinize their relationships, noting that those who abuse children are mostly people who have close relationship with them.
Also registering his support for the eradication of the menace, Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu Mustapha, the district head of Nassarawo Abba said the fight against GBV has become compelling and sacrosanct on all and sundry considering its debilitating effect on the society.
He thanked FIDA and all partners for a great job urging all members of the society to support the drive in order to address all forms of violations and human rights abuses in the society.
While delivering her advocacy and sensitization message, the Adamawa State chairperson of FIDA, Hapsat Abdullahi said FIDA, which is an association of female lawyers, offers free legal services, counsel and supports for survivors of GBV.
She thanked the traditional institutions for their support and interest in stopping GBV which has yielded positive fruits in the state.
Abdullahi noted that the job of addressing GBV is a multi stakeholder responsibility which needs all hands on deck to succeed. She noted that such vision informed the Inclusion of all segments of society including youths, women, men and religious leaders in the crusade.
She noted that violence against the human person may take many forms and shades and the perpetrators may range from security operatives, spouses, parents and even teachers calling on all stakeholders to keep an eagle eye against any nuance of the scourge so as to ensure perpetrators did not go free.
Abdullahi urged people to refrain from the culture of silence and ensure timely report of any GBV urging them not to tamper with the clothes and any form of evidence that may be used to unravel the mystery behind such atrocities as science has developed a number of solutions towards resolving such crimes.
She noted that in the event of any such violence, the people should approach the immediate traditional institution which will surely escalate it to the relevant authorities for the right action to be taken.
Abdullahi noted that the road to justice may be tardy and slow because it involves a lot of processes calling on the survivors and their relatives not to be deterred until justice is attained.
She noted that a number of organizations such as National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), FIDA, legal aide counsel, FOMWAN, CAN, ROWPEIDI and CSOs are always there to help survivors urging the people not to hesitate to approach any of them when their rights are violated.
The event featured some questions and answer sessions in which many fundamental issues were raised by some of the ward heads.
The questions include who amongst parents will take custody of a child in the event of divorce, another question raised was on anonymous complainant in crime situation and whether it is right for the identity of the complainant to be disclosed just as another ward head asked what happened to a person who abandoned his dependent unattended to in a medical facility.
In response, the chairperson noted that the determination of who takes custody of a child in divorce situation is a function of the religious faith of the parents noting that where the parents are Muslims Islamic laws applied and vice versa. She also noted that it is unethical for parties to disclose identity of anonymous complainant just as she promised to meet with medical association to sort out issues of neglect of patients.
