Bauchi begins implementation of VAPP, other laws

Bauchi State Government has unveiled implementation of Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) law, Administration of Criminal Justice Law and Penal Code of the state, adding that speedy trial process won’t exceed 180 days.

During a briefing at the Press Centre, Bauchi, yesterday, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Abubakar Mohammed, said it is a punishable under the new law to practise Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), forced marriage and other harmful traditional practices.

He added that concealment of rape cases is punishable.

“We now have elimination of delay. No matter how weighty an offence is, you must conclude it within 180 days. Also, we now have a limited number of adjournments, which is five,” he stated.

Chief Registrar of the High Court, Bauchi, Subilim Danjuma, said: “The journey to the signing of these laws was not easy. In the case of VAPP and Administration of Criminal Justice laws, the repealed laws, when assented to, were said to be existing laws only in our statutes books. However, the really is that these laws only existed in the bookshelves of the Ministry of Justice, as they could not be implemented after their assent.

“The major reasons in the legal cycle were primarily because of the multiple incurable defects associated with the laws. On the other hand, our Penal Code never saw the light of amendment since September 30, 1960 when it was signed into law; it appears no one ever saw the need to review the law,” he said.