Governors of the 36 states of the Federation have called for declaration of state of emergency on sexual and gender-based violence in the country.
This is coming as the Federal Executive Council, FEC at its virtual meeting on Wednesday declared war on rapists in the country. The Council resolved that the Federal Government will push the 36 states to domesticate the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPPA) 2015 in order to ensure that rapists face deserved punishments for their actions. The VAPPA law is only applicable in the Federal Capital Territory as it does not apply in the other states of the Federation just like the Child Rights Act.
Like the Federal Executive Council, the Governors are reacting to nationwide outrage over the increasing cases of rape and gender-based violence in the country.
The outrage was ignited by the death of 22-year-old microbiology student of the University of Benin, Vera Uwaila Omozuwa who was raped and killed in an empty church in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
Following almost immediately was the case of 18-year old Barakat Bello who was also raped and macheted to death while taking her bath in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
No fewer than 80 rape cases were recorded in various parts of Anambra State during the Covid-19 lockdown between April and May.
