The Oyo State House of Assembly, on Wednesday engaged stakeholders in the state at a public hearing on ‘Violence against persons prohibition bill.’
The discussion on the bill, held in collaboration with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, was aimed at curbing incessant abuses and violations of persons in the society.
The Chairman, House Committee on Women Affairs and Community Development in the state, Mrs Bimbo Oladeji, stated that the public hearing held at the House of Chiefs, Oyo State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, was the right step in tackling the menace.
“In the society, our experience leaves much to desire. Every strata encounters one form of violence or the other. Right from the basic unit of the society, there is violence. The resultant effect of the #EndSARS protest still lingers in our memory, hence the need for us to take decisive action to mitigate the situation.
“The recent increase in the rate of child abuse, kidnapping, rape, domestic violence, gangsterism etc. gave great concern. As the saying goes, where there is no law, there is no sin. Where laws are in place, people are well guided. Whoever flouts the law will face the consequences,” she said.
Mr Adebowale Olorunmola, Country Representative, Westminster Foundation for Democracy, said, “The support for this bill was funded to ensure that we have an inclusive society. It is done with funding from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.
“We observed that during the COVID-19 lockdown, there was a huge increase in the level of violence particularly against girls and we saw that there was demand from the citizens for the situation to be addressed.
“We saw that the Oyo State House of Assembly was very proactive in ensuring that they provide an enabling environment for the people by making provision suitable law for protection of persons. The bill is actually designed to protect every citizen whether male or female in every area of life.”
The Permanent Secretary, state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Mrs CA Abioye, said, “Not only able bodied men and women should be taken care of but also people living with disabilities. Family court should be involved to address issue of children. It is good that the bill spells out three-year jail term for violators but fine option should be higher than N50,000 being stipulated in the bill.”
In the opinion of the Special Adviser on Security, Mr Fatai Owoseni, “Coming from my 35years experience as a law enforcement officer, I can say that we have so many laws in this country and that is why there are so many ambiguities.
“Everyone is quick to attack the police; this is wrong. Just like the bill being looked into, we need to firm up certain areas in the law so that there would be no escape root for offenders.”
Among those present on the occasion are non governmental organisations, representatives of the law enforcement agencies, state lawmakers, lawyers and the media.
