By Stanley Onyekwere
An Abuja-based Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), Abiodun Essiet Initiatives For Girls (AEIG) has commenced strategic capacity training for Original Inhabitants (OI) traditional rulers on how best to address issues around Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in the Territory.
In particular, some selected traditional rulers and district heads drawn from Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and Bwari Area Council yesterday, were trained and given a training manual on alternative dispute resolution.
Also, at the one-day workshop themed: Strengthening traditional justice system of the FCT Original inhabitants to combat SGBV, the participants were equally exposed to Violence Prohibition Act (VAP) and some of the policy available in the FCT, to enable them tackle some of the SGBV issues.
Speaking at the occasion, AMAC Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu Candido, noted that strengthening the capacity of traditional rulers will help to get reduction in the number of SGBV in the Territory.
He said”: As the theme suggests that it’s all about strengthening the traditional justice system, and as far gender issue is concerned, I think it’s strengthening the capacity of community leaders, so as to know how to get things done.
“And this is a very good opportunity for us to take advantage of this initiative, so that we can have a more cohesive and truly decisive traditional institutions, that can checkmate excesses of violence or otherwise”.
Also speaking, Magistrate Theresa Otu, of the FCT Judiciary, said the judiciary is doing a lot in curtailing violence particularly Gender-Based Violence against girls, disabled persons and others.
According to her, the judiciary has a system, and the laws are there; the punishment sections are all spelt out very clearly, to ensure that if not totally eradicating the problem, but at least mitigate them, and keep persons off from committing violence against children and people that are generally disadvantaged in the society.
Earlier in her welcome remarks, Executive Director of the Organisation, Abiodun Essiet, noted that during the COVID-19 lockdown, Abuja was the number 3 state in Nigeria with increase in SGBV, hence the focus on empowering the traditional rulers, to see how they can contribute their quotas, as major key stakeholders in the communities that have issues of SGBV.
Essiet said : “We have recognised the traditional system as a major way of reducing issues around sexual and gender based violence, hence strengthening their capacity, so that they can know best to address issues around SGBV. And also using alternative dispute resolution mechanism to solve some of these conflicts, so that issues around SGBV will reduce.
“We recognise the traditional system as one means of ending sexual based violence, because they have been doing a whole lot of about conflict resolution, helping to settle dispute within their communities, but, we want to scale up it
“We are doing this in all the six Area Councils in the FCT. We have 17 Chiefdoms in FCT, and we hope to link their traditional justice system with all our safe spaces, so that they would know how and where to refer cases to in the FCT.”
Responding on behalf of the participants, District Head, Kawu District of the Bwari Area Council, Alhaji Danjuma Kawu, said they hope that at the end of the training, they are going to be well informed on how best to handle anything that has to do with negatively with female gender, and will get back home and keep people informed on all that they have learnt.
“We the traditional rulers withing our respective domains deal any form of violences particularly the girls headlong. And as far as we are concerned at our level, if we have any victim we try our best under the normal traditional system , but when that fails, we will urgently employ the Western system conflict resolution to ensure justice”, he stressed.
