And after joining other organizations in a roadwork around Abakaliki Metropolis to raise awareness against Human Trafficking, HRCRC joined the GBV Taskforce and collaborating organizations to stage a peaceful protest at the Ebonyi State Command Headquarters of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC to press home the following demands:
An alleged Defilement of a 12year old girl by one popular Lawyer in the state cannot and should not be swept under the carpet like it seems the NSCDC is doing.
For almost a month since the report and arrest of the alleged perpetrator, he is yet to be arraigned.
His whereabouts are unknown
There are indications that the NSCDC is either leading or participating in an attempt to settle the matter with exchange of monies without consideration for the survivor.
All attempts to get the attention of the NSCDC command to act in accordance with the law have failed.
having lost faith in the ability of the NSCDC to diligently and without bias prosecute the case in point, we peacefully demand that the matter be transferred to the Nigeria Police.
The protest was peaceful as the unarmed protesters conducted themselves in a lawful manner.
However, it was shocking to note an officer of the NSCDC cocked his gun and pointed the nozzle directly at the innocent protesters to scare them away..
The worst scenario occurred when one of the officers of NSCDC was alleged to have said that the female protesters will be raped just as the girl they were protesting for, was raped “
In all, the entire experience shows that there is a serious need for GBV prevention awareness training for officers of the Ebonyi State NSCDC office as some of the offices show grave ignorance of human rights and gender-sensitive awareness.
Also at the present, it would be of importance to request the Office of Ebonyi State NSCDC to transfer all cases of GBV to the police and concentrate on their core mandate which is the protection of public properties and infrastructure.
We thank the National Human Rights Commission for monitoring and noting the infringements.
Despite the partial lockdown, HRCRC was besieged within the last month with a medley of matters that mostly resolved around domestic violence and gender abuse, child abuse and even trafficking amidst others. Women and Children are worst hit as they suffer the brunt of the frustration in society due to the pandemic and the plethora of the attendant effects… Pictured here is Gift (15), who is here in Abakaliki, working in a restaurant to raise money to eat. She has no knowledge of her home town, or her parents names or dates and times of her sojorn to her present life. Through investigation, HRCRC has contacted her elder sister, who will come to identify and will lead HRCRC to her parents after the lockdown. After consultations with security agencies, she currently lives with a good Nigerian who volunteered to, whilst HRCRC monitors her welfare.
Gift (15)
Also, a One year old baby consistently abandoned by his mother for one day or more in many instances to either go to the market to sell, or travel to buy goods… Whilst we acknowledge the economic reality of Nigeria and Ebonyi State that may warrant this single mother to try to legitimately earn income to cater for her needs and that of her child, HRCRC cannot and will not stand for any form of child abuse: especially in the subtle almost acceptable form of NEGLECT….
In Igbo land children are highly valued and
cared for because they are regarded as wealth – both in the literal and
metaphorical sense. In most Igbo cultures including Ebonyi, extended families
look with anticipation to the eventual celebration of their daughters’
marriages and the Umunna cannot wait
to partake of joyous feast and of course the bride price and cultural demands
from the groom’s family. Their sons on the other hand are cherished for a more
apocalyptic reason – the fear of losing a lineage or the continuation of a
family name.
Thus, lack of children is suggestive of a
curse by the gods or consequence of an action or inaction by the couple; or
even worse still not by the couple themselves but their generations past. Children
are therefore imperative for couples.
However, over time, families began to value
the continuation of the family name – which a female child losses at marriage –
and male children gradually began to assume more significance over female. And
so there is not-so-complete joy at the arrival of only female children in a
family. The birth of a male which is considered as a good omen to an Igbo
family is often heralded with greater delight than that of a female child. This
preference of male children has become so unhealthily intense that in
emergencies and disasters, many Igbo parents selectively attend to their male
children. A pathology such as this was one of the unreported and undocumented tragic
tales of the civil war – many parents fled with their sons, livestock,
bicycles, clothing and jewelries, leaving their female children behind.
After all the hullabaloo of the birth, the
children are then raised and nurtured differently as occasioned by cultural
constructs and circumstances before their birth. Male children are consequently
raised and socialized to see themselves as future heads of households,
breadwinners and possessing superior authorities over their wives and children
while the female children are taught to be obedient , submissive , meek and
humble housekeepers; trained and
prepared almost exclusively for the inevitable task of child bearing,
nurturing, rearing and protection. Thus socially, the male child suffers less
rejection, prejudice, discrimination abandonment than his female counterpart.
This evidently irked Chimamanda Adichie as
much as it irks me to make her lament ‘We police girls. We praise girls for virginity but we don’t praise boys
for virginity and it makes me wonder how exactly this is supposed to work out;
since the loss of virginity is a process that usually involves two people of
opposite genders’.[1]
Furthermore and ironically, some families devote more and sometimes
unhealthy concentration on the girl child to the
detriment of the boy child because the former are perceived as more vulnerable,
prone to abuse and social vices; and the latter do not need as much attention.
A conventional parlance the traditional society employs to forgive the excesses
of the boy child is Boys will be Boys. This
imbalance in their perception, acceptance and upbringing thus culminates in a
society prone to abusing the other gender; if for no other reason but to
compensate for the lack or excess they see in the other gender but do not
enjoy. Whilst the boy child is prone to abuse, social construct of the
traditional Igbo society has cultivated the soil for the physical, emotional or
sexual abuse of the girl child. Sad! What is even sadder is that these children
are very under aged; – a crime known as Defilement.
This crime – defilement is now very rampant
in Ebonyi state and the world at large – maybe because due to civilization more
victims are speaking out.
Section 277 of the Child Rights Act of 2003
defines “a child as a person who has not attained the age of eighteen.
Definition of Sexual Defilement varies in different jurisdictions as there is
no universal accepted legal definition to it. Child’s sexual defilement is
defined by African Network For the Prevention and protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) Nigeria Chapter
Annual Report (Abuja ANPPCAN 2007) ‘as a
behavior that exposes a child below 18 years of age to sexual content in which
the child is used to obtain sexual stimulation and gratification’. The rampancy
of these cases of defilement of minors in Ebonyi State has given rise to the
contemplation of making it a capital offence in other to curb the steady
alarming trend.
It is more disheartening that Parents,
uncles, religious leaders and generally persons of trust are the prime
perpetrators of this crime and pitifully, society has made it uneasy for
victims and their parents/guardians due to stigmatization thereby worsening the
trauma. It is pertinent to note that a civilization relies on the individuals
it produces and these individuals in turn rely on the civilization that produce
them. Therefore, it is safe to aver that the vices perpetuated today such as
defilement of minors are a product of the civilization that has produced our
children and these children are now birthing a civilization of defilement. The
vicious circle continues unless drastic measures are taken.
Measures such as balancing the imbalance of
nurturing genders differently and disproportionately because of cultural
dictates must stop. The idea that the girl child needs more attention thus is
overly protected socially especially to the detriment of the boy child breeds
an unhealthy disparity. The boy child slowly develops the abusive tendency from
childhood, which is either not noticed due to inadequate attention or ignored
because of societal and cultural tolerance for chauvinism. Thus parents must
learn to be very proportionately observant and curb these trends and
tendencies. Respect for the female gender must be inculcated into the male
child.
All staff and volunteers of HRCRC have
undergone a child safeguarding and protection training and have signed up to
the Safeguarding Policy of St. Patrick’s Missionary Society – our mother
organization. It is armed with this policy and other instruments such as the
Child Rights Act/Law and VAPP that we go sensitizing the public on safeguarding
not only the girl child but all children because they are the civilization and
future we live for today. Let us collectively build a non-gender biased society
that guarantees equal rights, equal opportunities and equal benefits for every
individual.
[1] Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie’s We should all be feminists
A core part of HRCRC work is on Child Protection and sensitization. Along with Raphael Ukusaga, – the designated child safeguarding officer of St Patrick’s Missionary Society SPS West Africa District, our mother organization – HRCRC visited Comprehensive High School, Oriuzor in Ezza North to sensitize her teachers and students on child rights/Protection and revitalize the child rights club in a bid to sustain the awareness campaign.
Also, we visited the traditional rulers of the Ezza nation for same purpose…
Furthermore, the resource person; Mr. Raphael Okusaga, Child safeguarding officer of St. Patrick’s Missionary Society, West-Africa region during a training for all workers and volunteers of the organisation across all our branches in Ebonyi state.
The Child Right Act (2003) is a legal instrument that provides for the measures meant to ensure the development and protection of children. Vulnerable adults are persons who, though above 18years are dependent on others by virtue of old age, illness, mental incapacity, etc.
The traditions and rituals of our communities have an impact on how children and vulnerable adults are valued and cared for.
We are committed to ensuring that our values, beliefs and attitude towards children and vulnerable adult are tailored into influencing our ability to act to towards safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.
As the year winds to a close, and pre-election activities kick up a notch, HRCRC joined the UN and the rest of the world to mark the 2018 World Human Rights Day with several simultaneous activities both in Abakaliki metropolis and in the local communities via our branches.
In all of Ebonyi, we join in the loud global clamour to stand up for human rights and peculiarly clamour for the end of Electoral Violence and Improprieties with a rally across streets in Abakaliki involving sister CSOs, Volunteers, the press and Security Agencies, in solidarity with the police.
The Nigerian Police, as one of the principal agencies largely acknowledged to be principal perpetuators of human rights violations in Nigeria joined in the solidarity as a public acknowledgement and commitment to work for the upholding of human rights and the values they inhibit.
