From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
Kogi House of Assembly, Lokoja
A Non-Governmental Organisation, Challenged Parenthood Initiative (CPI), has charged the Kogi House of Assembly to, without further delay, present the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Bill to Gov. Yahaya Bello for assent.
Executive Director of CPI Ms Eunice Agbogun, who made the call while addressing newsmen yesterday in Lokoja, said the bill was passed by the House on March 21.
She said there was an urgent need for the VAPP bill to be assented to by the governor and gazetted without further delay to curtail the prevalence of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the state.
Agbogun said the law, when operational, was expected to serve as a legal tool for the protection of the people from all forms of violence.
She added that it was no longer news that violence and other forms of offence against persons in public and private life were at their peaks, making life unsafe in the state.
According to her, existing legal frameworks do not cover all forms of offences in the state and that is why most perpetrators of violence are not properly prosecuted and many individuals can not access justice.
She noted that the impunity with which perpetrators were carrying out violent activities necessitated the advocacy for the passage of the VAPP bill as a legal tool for protection.
“The VAPP Bill is to eliminate violence in our private and public lives, prohibit all forms of violence against persons and provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment to the offenders.
“We are being faced with cases of GBV. We need the VAPP bill to be assented to law and gazetted,” she said.
