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THE Kano State House of Assembly has been called upon to pass the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP), and the Kano State child protection bill, to enhance the fight against sexual and gender-based violence.
The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) gender officer, Hajiya Zainab Aminu, made the call on Wednesday during a road walk to commemorate 16 days of activism against GBV by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Kano office.
She said gender-based violence must be stopped because it is an evil act. It ranges from rape, battery and child molestation, among others.
She said that the aim of the road walk was to create awareness of GBV and advocate for the speedy domestication of the bill by relevant stakeholders.
Hajiya Aminu, however, decried the rising cases of GBV in Kano saying that the centre had recorded over 800 cases of rape, domestic violence, sexual abuse and online harassment from January 2022 to date.
She noted that if passed, the laws would go a long way in curbing the menace.
Hajiya Aminu expressed concern over the delay by Kano State House of Assembly, in passing the Child Protection bill, saying that domestication and implementation of the act would help to curb gender-based violence in the state.
Also speaking, the Head of Department, Sexual and Gender-based Violence, NAPTIP Kano zonal command, Hajiya Rasheda Aminu Ibrahim highlighted that the absence of VAPP act in Kano limits the prosecution of SGBV offenders.
She said NAPTIP zonal command which compromises Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Kaduna and Bauchi states was committed to eradicating sexual and gender-based violence, child labour and molestation, human trafficking among others.
She disclosed that “Every day, we receive cases of SGBV. The limitation we have is lack of passage of the VAPP act. Even when they are arrested they have a right to bail.”
In a related development, the CITAD Programme Officer Digital Rights, Alhaji Ali Sabo, said that “Due to the refusal of the president to assent to this bill, Nigerianlabor, molestation, been witnessing an increased in the violation of their digital rights by the Nigerian government and its security agencies.”
According to him, the bill when assented will strengthen the citizens’ right on the internet and its free use without undue monitoring.
“It will help in the identification of true owners of personal data which are the owners themselves and the bill will also encourage the stipulation of due process that should be followed before access is granted to government agencies and others to personal data of citizens,” he said.
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