Gbajabimila to engage state assemblies on domestication of fight against rape

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, said on Friday he would engage Speakers of State Houses of Assembly on domestication of laws against rape.

The speaker, who made the promise while receiving a delegation of 12 Civil Society Organisations in his office in Abuja, said he would engage the state assembly speakers on the urgent need to domesticate the Child Rights Act and the Violence Against Persons Act.

He said: “I am aware that over 20 states are yet to domesticate the Child Right Act and the Violence Against Persons Act.

“Next week, I will have a zoom meeting with all the speakers and I hope that at the end, these Acts will be domesticated across the 36 states.”

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According to him, all the 360 members of the House are solidly behind the fight against rape in the country.

He said the House had directed the clerk to write the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to commence aggressive awareness against rape.

The speaker said the Green chamber would ensure that police officers handling rape-related issues are well trained in the technicalities required so as to secure convictions in court.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Chioma Aguegbo, said that since 2015 when the Child Right Act and the Violence Against Persons Act were passed, only six states had domesticated the anti-rape laws.

She said that the CSOs had compiled a list of 100 reported rape cases across the country from January to date.

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