Obaseki vows to prosecute sexual offenders, promises justice for victims

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to eliminating all forms of gender-based violence across the state, saying the government will not shy away from prosecuting offenders, no matter how highly placed in the society.

Obaseki, represented by his Deputy, Philip Shaibu, gave the assurance while declaring open the Edo Gender-based Violence (GBV) workshop, held at the Government House in Benin City.

The three-day workshop is organised by the Edo State Government in collaboration with the Nigeria Academy of Science (NAS) and Ford Foundation.

The training, now on its second day, with the theme, “To strengthen the evidence and response pathways for Gender-Based Violence (GBV),” is targeted at getting ultimate justice for victims of gender-based violence in Edo.

Obaseki said the government is deploying all machinery at its disposal to eradicate the scourge, adding, “For us in Edo State, we are concerned about gender-based issues and violence because of the ills and dangers it portends to our daily activities.”

He noted that the state government had domesticated the Child Rights Law as a way to further protect the rights of the girl-child against gender-based violence and other social vices, such as trafficking and rape, among others.

“We are strategic in all our thinking. If you observe, it was the cry of Edo that led to the establishment of a committee by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, using the First Ladies of the states as chairpersons,” he added.

In a separate remark, Edo First Lady, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki, said the essence of setting up the committee by Mr. President was to enable them to achieve the set mandate on issues relating to gender-based violence.