‘Take Advantage Of Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law’
Wife of Osun State Governor and President of IleriOluwa Development Initiative, Mrs. Kafayat Öyetola has charged residents of the state to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the Violence Against Persons Prohibition law, VAPP by reporting every form of offences captured by the law to law enforcement officers promptly.
Mrs Oyetola who gave the charge on Tuesday in Osogbo at a Press Conference for the Public Presentation of the law noted that the law became imperative because of certain noticeable gaps in existing laws, especially with regards to the scope of violence and the weight of punishments.
She recalled that following the upsurge in the number of cases of rape and violence against women and girls in 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and attendant lock down, wives of the governors met and resolved to tackle the menace.
According to her, in Osun, it was found out that just as women and girls suffered violence and abuse, information were also received that boys and men also suffer psychological and sometimes physical violence, especially from intimate partners, hence the need for law that would capture every form of violence.
Mrs Oyetola commended the roles of the Osun House of Assembly under the leadership of Hon. Timoth Owoeye and governor Adegboyega Oyetola towards the domestication of the VAPP law, in order to arrest the upsurge in the incidence of rape and sexual violence in the state.
While also thanking the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Adepele Ojo and her colleagues for the support they are giving to make the state the best and most peaceful state in Nigeria, Mrs Oyetola expressed confidence that such offences as captured by the law would receive adequate attention by the judiciary.
Her words: “We do not want violence at homes, between intimate partners, during pollical campaigns and elections, or at any time at all. I urge everyone in this state to join in this campaign and make our state a violence-free state”.
ENDS
