The Federal government and various women groups on Monday stormed the National Assembly to appealing to lawmakers for the speedy passage of the Violence Against Persons Bill.
The bill has spent 12 years in the National Assembly.
The VAPP Bill is an amalgam of nine different bills before the National Assembly during the 5th and 6th Assembly, carried out by WRAPA and FIDA with support from DFID.
The bill seeks to eradicate violence in the public and private spaces.
Speaking at the public hearing organized on the Violence Against Persons, the Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Zainab Maina, said the passage of the bill will stop impunity on the part of perpetrators of violence.
Maina said the non-passage of the Violence Against Persons Bill has negatively impacted on these vulnerable groups and led to increased cases of gender-based violence being reported in the media.
She said: “The passage of the bill will stop impunity on the part of perpetrators of violence.
“Cases of abuse and defilement of young males by trusted adults is expected to be addressed by this bill.
“Cases of administration of acid bath on partners in a fit of jealousy will decrease to the barest minimum because the punishment recommended by the bill is enough to serve as a deterrent.
“The bill also encourages mutual resolution of marital conflicts by spouses without resorting to forceful eviction by either of the parties.
“The non-passage of the Violence Against Persons Bill has negatively impacted these vulnerable groups and has led to increased cases of gender-based violence being reported in the media.
“We have come to seek the following assistance from your able leadership: “Ensuring that the `Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Bill be finally passed by this distinguished Assembly.
“Ensuring the safety of our babies, women, girls and young boys, especially domestic servants, the elderly and persons with disability everywhere in Nigeria.”
Also, the International Federation of Women Lawyers, the National Association of Women Journalists and the Market Women Association appealed to the lawmakers to speedily pass the bill.
In his opening remarks, the Senate President, Senator David Mark, lamented: “Violence against persons in the recent past has become a recurring decimal in all spheres and sectors that has the effect of not only threatening a peaceful and corporate co-existence but also a threat to our democracy and development as a nation.
“Hardly a second passes without a case of violence against persons been witnessed on our streets or recorded in police stations.
“The incidence of violence has become so notorious that everybody should stand up and condemn it in its entirety.
“We should condemn it be it in public or private life.
“Incidentally, this is a House Bill, which I believe violence against persons had been condemned as well during debate in the House of Representatives.”
Trending
- No plan for foreign military base establishment – FG
- Use of Styrofoam banned to protect environment, Lagos clarifies
- How I was offered N1m for my kidney to be removed, 16-year-old boy tells court
- Court adjourns Ali Bello, co-defendant’s case
- Educational Crisis: Basic underlying factors of poor JAMB results, by Richard Odusanya
- Court remands man, 30, for allegedly raping 11-year-old girl
- Court sentences three to die by hanging for armed robbery in Ekiti
- Blasphemy: Court fixes date to hear cleric’s appeal challenging death sentence