Akwa Ibom First Lady, police seek partnership to curb gender violence

The growing incidence of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) has become a serious cause of concern in many parts of the country. With daily reports of rape and spousal attacks, it has continued to attract the attention of government at various levels as well as that of Non-Governmental Organisations.

In Akwa Ibom State, the ongoing trial of Uduak Akpan, a student of the University of Uyo at the state high court who allegedly lured a female graduate of the same University on the pretext of offering her a job but later ended in a tragic death of the lady has brought to the fore the alarming rate of GBV in the state and other parts of the country.

According to the police in Akwa Ibom state, many cases of GBV including sexual violence, intimate partner violence, violence against women and girls as well as domestic violence among others are being reported with some resulting in the death of a person of a particular gender.

For instance, a pastor in Eket, Akwa Ibom State reportedly killed his wife and buried her in a shallow grave in their rented apartment but was later apprehended by the police for the alleged murder of his wife.

The incident which is reported to have happened in Ikot Ataku, Okon in Eket local government area involved one pastor Chris Enoch, the founder of Omega Word Global Ministries. Enoch who has five children from his wife, Patience, he allegedly killed hails from Ebonyi State.

Currently, a 46-year-old man is standing trial before an Uyo High Court for allegedly raping and impregnating his 23-year-old daughter, a former student of a government secondary school in Uyo, the state capital.

According to the girl, her father repeatedly raped her in the church vestry and warned her not to reveal the incident to anybody.

It is against the background that the Akwa Ibom Government sent up the Gender-Based Violence Management Committee head by the first lady, Martha Udom Emmanuel with a full-fledged directorate in the ministry of justice after it opened a register for convicted sex offenders.

In addition, the state government has made the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2020 as part of measures to “eliminate violence in private and public life, prohibit all forms of violence against persons and provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims.’’ Offenders who run foul of the law are punished accordingly.

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For instance, “when any person intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person with any part of his/her body without the person’s permission or through force. A threat, tricks and deceit, that person has committed an offence called rape and will go to prison for the rest of his/her life and the court will award compensation to the victim as the court considers necessary.’’

So it was in order for the first lady, who has an NGO committed to addressing issues of GBV to visit the Akwa Ibom State police command to solicit partnership and collaboration in curbing the growing menace of GBV in the state.

Addressing the state commissioner of police, Andrew Amienghime, who was present with other top police officers of the command, the First Lady, Martha Udom raised many issues that should be tackled by the police including the need to refrain from harassing rape victims, not grating perpetrators bail, not demanding for money before cases are attended to and the correct reporting of rape cases which she said should be to the family unit of the police command.

She also raised the contentious issue of asking that issues of rape should be settled out of court, a development she kicked against.

Though she noted that many achievements had been recorded since the committee was inaugurated by the governor a year ago, more still needed to be done since cases of GBV are reported almost on a daily basis.

‘’Since this committee was inaugurated a few months ago by the Governor, we have recorded successes but it appears the more we talk and condemn it, the more evil people are committing the crime. We are here today as a committee to seek your support and cooperation in tackling this menace headlong in society,’’ she said.

The First Lady who also presented copies of the VAPP law to the state police command, also read the terms of reference of the committee and expressed the hope that the visit would open a new vista of partnership with the state police command.

Thanking the First Lady for the visit and her campaign against all forms of GBV, the commissioner of police promised that offenders would be made to face the law but noted that most rape victims were reluctant to come forward to pursue their cases when they are offered money blaming it on the high level of poverty in the state. He said the police would henceforth accept pleas for out-of-court settlement of GBV cases.

The visit of the Akwa Ibom First Lady to the state police command was significant in many ways in that it marked a significant commitment to involve the law enforcement agency in addressing the issues of GBV from the onset, getting them to be actively involved as key players in crime control and above all, availing the command of the urgent need for collaboration in addressing issues of GBV in the state.