By Aderogba George (NAN)
The United Nations Office on Drug and Crimes (UNODC) has commended the FCT judiciary for designating particular judges to hear Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) and related crime cases.
The UNODC Team Lead on Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Portfolio, Mrs Abimbola Adewumi, gave the commendation on Friday in Abuja at a forum to celebrate the first anniversary of the Roost Foundation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Roost Foundation is a counter-trafficking, counter-SGBV organisation to raise advocacy about this menace in the society.
NAN recalls that the Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Dr Fatima Waziri-Azi, had recently told stakeholders in the sector that the FCT judiciary had assigned four judges to handle SGBV cases in the city.
Adewumi commended the development, saying that lack of judges to handle SGBV cases was one of the factors that had impeded the prosecution of Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (TIP/SOM) cases in the past.
She said that the initiative would ensure speedy prosecution of defendants when proper investigation has preceded trial.
The UNODC official expressed optimism that with time and the success of the initiative, it would be replicated in other states.
“One of the things that UNODC has done is that we have a strong partnership with National Judicial Institute (NJI) and we know that they are the one that are also doing a lot of capacity building for judges.
“So, we are working with NJI, we are conducting different training for judges as well.
“And through our partnership with NJI and NAPTIP, we are pushing that we should have more of those specialised judges. This is a gradual process, it is not something we can achieved immediately.
“Even the ones for FCT, it has been a push for so many years, we will also get there for other states; it is gradually,’’ she stressed.
Mr Akinlolu Kehinde, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who is also an adviser to Roost Foundation, welcome the idea of having the special judges, adding that, SGBV and trafficking were now a scourge in the society.
According to Kehinde, SGBV and trafficking were now epidemic that must be tackled with everything that is available to serve as a deterrent to perpetrators.
He commended Roost Foundation for the giant strides made in the last one year of establishment, adding that the foundation was in existence for people who could not afford the cost of justice.
The lawyer advised victims to avail themselves of the services of the foundation which was free.
“I can tell you authoritatively that Roost Foundation is expecting judgment in some of the cases they have initiated in Jigawa, Kano and some other state.
“What we need to do is to encourage the media to spread the word about Roost Foundation, a foundation that has the commitment to put an end to the SGBV and human trafficking scourge,’’ he said.
Another lawyer, Mr James Agbonhese, called on Nigerian to help expose the evil of SGBV, trafficking and internet fraudsters, popularly known as Yahoo yahoo.
He said this kind of evil act of SGBV, trafficking and advance fee fraud, according to him, had become prevalent in our society.
Agbonhese also called for more sensitization on the part of people to discourage all these immoral act in our society, as well as setting up institutions to checkmate what he called nefarious act.
Mrs Julie Okah-Donli, the Executive Chairman of Roost Foundation, who was full of happiness, stated that the foundation has done so much within the first year of its existence to pursue justice.
She said that some of the cases of SGBV and trafficking that had been reported to the foundation had also been referred to NAPTIP for onward action
Okah-Donli, a former Director General of NAPTIP, said that foundation had empowered some youths rescued from traffickers with skills training and formal schooling.
She disclosed that the foundation would soon be partnering with Bayelsa State government to set up a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) where victim could access Psycho-social support and medical support.
Okah-Donli also implored states to domesticate the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act 2015 and Child Right Act 2003. (NAN)