‘Lagos government treated over 10,000 domestic violence cases, others in two years’

Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), yesterday, said the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had received 10,007 reported cases of domestic violence from May 2019 to August 26, 2021.

He said that the cases included sexual violence perpetrated against adults and children within the state.

Onigbanjo disclosed this during a media parley organised to review activities of the State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) where he said 2,980 children experienced emotional abuse and exposure to domestic violence in homes.

He said that by virtue of the team’s various initiatives, as well as the zero-tolerance declared in the state, DSVRT had continued to see a steady increase of formal reportage of cases.

The commissioner noted that the notable achievements of the Ministry of Justice stem from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), which has secured over 365 convictions for various sexual offences, including rape, defilement, sexual assault by penetration, and sexual assault.

In the breakdown of the cases, he said: “415 domestic violence, 177 rape, 255 attempt to commit rape/sexual assault, 246 sexual assault by penetration/threat, 877 others (separation, not taking responsibilities of child (ren), neglect, custody of the child, non-GBV and so on), 436 child abuse/physical assault, 271 defilement cases, 13 defilement by minor to minor, 454 child labour, abduction neglect/others, 148 sexual harassment/molestation case.”

He said since May 2019, the DSVRT team began to attend to on average 150 new cases monthly.”

The AG further stated that the office of the Public Defender, Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership (LPILP), as well as the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), provided free legal representation to 188 survivors of domestic violence, ranging from judicial separation, divorce, custody of children, mediation and settlement.

He also stated that in 2021, the team had provided services to 10 persons with disabilities who were experiencing one form of gender-based violence or the other.