Kogi State government has said the state currently has nine family courts and some magistrate courts handling Gender-Based Violence (GBV) cases.
The state’s commissioner for Justice and Attorney-Generale, Muiz Yinus Abdullahi (SAN), made this known when he received a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Project Ebulejonu, led by its founder and executive director, Mrs Elizabeth Ebulejonu Achimugu, in his office.
The commissioner was represented by the acting deputy director of the Directorate of Gender-based Violence, Mrs Juliana Omale.
he said in its fight against SGBV, the state government signed into law the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law, 2022, and created a dedicated GBV Directorate in 2024. In addition, capacity-building for law officers and the Nigerian Police to prosecute GBV cases and criminalise harmful cultural practices in the state was also undertaken.
He, however, identified the culture of blaming and shaming of victims, survivors, inadequate funding and ignorance of existing legal mechanisms for protection, as some of the challenges militating against the tackling of SGBV cases.
Therefore, the commissioner thanked the organisation for the visit and expressed the Ministry’s readiness for collaboration and partnership in terms of training, sensitisation, and raising awareness about SGBV.
Earlier, Mrs Achimugu revealed that the advocacy visit was the second phase of its ongoing sensitisation, advocacy, skill acquisition, and empowerment support programme, which is part of its multi-pronged approach to fighting SGBV in Kogi State.
She highlighted the importance of collaborating with relevant stakeholders, ministries, departments, agencies (MDAs), NGOs, and traditional and religious institutions to combat SGBV cases, especially among the uneducated and economically disadvantaged.
Her words, “Anybody can be a perpetrator and anybody can also be a victim of SGBV irrespective of ethnicity, religion and geography. We call for a change of mindset, more sensitisation in rural areas, preventive measures and the need for unrepentant perpetrators to be sent to jail to demonstrate the zero-tolerance stance of the government against SGBV in the state.”
The NGO later engaged with the Palace of the Maigari of Lokoja, his Royal Majesty, Alhaji Ibrahim Gambo Kabir Maikarfi IV.
The Maigari welcomed the PTCF Team to Lokoja, a town known for being a mini-Nigeria because of its multi-ethnic composition.
