The wife of Niger State governor, Hajiya Fatima Mohammed Umar Bago, has decried the rate of Gender-Based Violence, GBV, and called for synergy and unrelenting commitment from relevant stakeholders to tackle the menace in the state.
Hajiya Bago, who is the Chairperson of the State GBV Management Committee, made this call at a two-day capacity-building workshop for members of the State GBV Management Committee organised by the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in Minna.
Mrs Bago noted, “The fight against GBV is not one that can be won by a single individual or agency. It requires synergy, compassion, skill, and an unrelenting commitment from all of us.”;
Lamenting the increasing cases of GBV in communities in the state, she insisted that the menace demands not only response but response with clarity, competence, and coordination from committee members.
“For too long, our frontline responders and committee members have been operating with limited resources, fragmented systems, and inconsistent protocols. This will end now, as we’ve decided to take serious steps in addressing this,”; she stated.
Mairo Mann, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs, said the ministry is extremely worried about the issue of rape, which is a very big one in the GBV family, emphasising that children who are not adults but of a few months or years are affected by it.
According to her, “We are very happy that in the forthcoming LG elections all 25 councils have women as their vice chairmen, and we know that they will definitely champion this cause to make sure that it gets to the grassroots.
“One of the expectations that we always advocate for and we see from our indicators is that there is more reporting of GBV, and we are sure that there will be more reporting because awareness is high.
“For someone who has been raped, you don’t expect it to come easy. But with a lot of counselling, some of them are able to still stabilise and continue with their lives.”;
Also, the lead consultant, Mrs Olutoyin Falade, explained that the workshop was organised to kit them with the knowledge or skills and various ways they prevent violence or reduce GBV in the state.
“Where it happens, they will be trained on how best all hands can be on deck whether in health, psychosocial or involves economic situation to help survivors of GBV in Niger State,”; she stated.
