The Rights Enforcement and Public Law Centre (REPLACE) has highlighted the importance of educating communities, especially vulnerable members on the provisions of the criminal justice law of Lagos State.
 
Speaking at the Community Awareness Programme for Market community in Ikeja, Executive Director, REPLACE, Felicitas Aigbogun-Brai, said as the world marks the International Human Rights Day it was expedient to flag-off the community sensitisation.
 
This, she said, is to grow consciousness in the minds of people that though everyone has rights, vulnerable people have separate rights that address their vulnerability.
 
She explained that there are certain provisions in the criminal justice law of Lagos State, enacted in 2015 and amended in 2021, that protects the rights of women and vulnerable people, thus the need to educate the women.
 
She stressed that REPLACE has engaged with the commissioner of police and other police officers that they shouldn’t arrest persons in lieu of another person and informed them that due to this sensitisation, they should expect more women to stand as surety and their rights should be respected.  
 
“We have also extended the training to lawyers, legal aid providers, national human rights commission, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and other Non Governmental Organisations (NGO),” she added.
 
Aigbogun-Brai, said they also met with the Iyaloja who sent representatives for the activities and they donated sensitisation materials for the iyaloja to paste around the market and office.
 
According to her, the government can support. Also, the Police as federal agency and the biggest enforcers of laws that deal with citizens can support.
 
She tasked the police to proactively respect and follow the law, while urging National Orientation Agency (NOA) to organise campaigns, given that they are in all local government areas in Nigeria, so spreading awareness about laws would be beneficial for Nigerians. 
 
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Children and Community Protection Network, Awofesan Rasheed, said that in the past, women have suffered, playing second fiddle in the society and the law has now provided opportunities for them to be treated equally in the society.
 
According to him, the government has been helpful by enacting their laws, so the responsibility is on the people to play their roles.
 
He said market women are critical stakeholders in the society, but don’t have enough time to know what the laws say, so the awareness would help educate them and equip them with actions to take if they fall victim. 
 
A market woman, Yomi Awonuga, said the sensitisation is beneficial so the women know the course of action to take when their rights are infringed upon.