Rape/Violence Against Children: Police secure 150 convictions against offenders

By Kingsley Omonobi

The Police High Command disclosed on Wednesday that over 150 convictions have been secured for offenders charged with Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) especially rape cases involving children across the country.

Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu who made this known a the High Level Multi-Agency Team meeting of stakeholders in the implementation of the Violence Against Persons Act, 2015 held in Abuja, also disclosed that over 2,000 cases are currently undergoing prosecution in court.

Adamu who was represented by AIG Garba Baba, the AIG in charge INTERPOL Nigerian Bureau said, “As part of the converted efforts of the Nigerian Police force that are geared towards ensuring the enforcement and implementation of the Act and other relevant legal instruments addressing SGBV in Nigeria, the Force Gender Office has been directed to regularly coordinate and collate SGBV data across all police commands and formations including FCT to enable the force have a near accurate on Violence Against Children (VAC)  cases.

He said, “There is an ongoing consultation meeting in partnership with UNICEF and other relevant stakeholders on Child Protection Information Management System {CPIMS). In summary, between  2019 and 2020, the Nigerian Police Force has secured over 150 convictions on SGBV and cases involving children while over 2,000 cases are currently undergoing prosecution in court”.

“In a bid to enforce the recently passed Sexual Harassment Bill, 2020, I have also initiated actions aimed strengthening the Gender Desks across the various tertiary institutions in Nigeria which is coordinated by the Force Gender Advisor”, the IGP said.

“With the support of our strategic partners like UNICEF, CLEEN Foundation and RoLAC , a Gender Laboratory has been established at the Force Criminal Investigation Department for the prompt analysis of SGBV and cases involving children. The facility is due for commissioning by the end of March 2021”, he added.

He continued, “There is also an ongoing Drafting and Validation of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) training manual for Nigeria Police force and this is being done in partnership with UN Women”.

Furthermore, Adamu said, “In June 2020, approval was given for the inclusion of modules on the best practices in the handling of cases involving children into Police Training Curriculum and the Police Force Order. The Force has also been prioritizing the training and retraining of Gender Desks Officers across Police Commands and formations on handling of SGBV and Children related cases”.

The IGP however lamented that the Act as it were, has not been optimally implemented owing to various setbacks especially funding, inadequate information and weak intelligence sharing among other protocols between the enforcement agencies as envisaged under the Act.

“Therefore, it is my expectation that this interaction will act as a veritable forum for members to synergize and proffer practicable solutions to the challenges militating against the smooth operation of the Act”, he said.

Earlier, the Force Gender Officer, DCP Margaret Ichalla disclosed that there was a huge challenge in addressing the rising scourge of violence such Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), Violence Against Children (VAC), Trafficking in Persons and other forms of violence in Nigeria by law enforcement agencies and other implementing partners.

She regretted that the Covid-19 pandemic has largely contributed to the non domestication of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act 2015.

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