The Nigeria Governors Forum has declared a state of emergency on sexual violence against women and children.
The Chairman of the NGF, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday after the forum’s 10th COVID-19 teleconference meeting on Wednesday.
The Governors agreed to, “Declare a State of Emergency on Sexual and Gender-based violence, even as they blatantly condemned all forms of violence against women and children in Nigeria.
The governors also agreed that offenders must face the full weight of the law.
The Forum further instructed each governor to create sex offenders register in their states.
The statement read in part: “We call on State Governors that have not already domesticated relevant gender-based protection laws to domesticate the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, the Child Rights Act and the updated Penal Code to increase protection for women and children.
“They should ensure speedy investigation and prosecution of perpetrators in addition to creating a sex offender register in each State to name and shame those found guilty.”
