Ambode promises to deal with sex offenders, others

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Thursday led a walk against sexual and gender –based violence, vowing that his administration would ensure that all perpetrators of sexual crimes face the wrath of the law.

The members of the Lagos State Executive Council, members of the Sttate House of Assembly and entertainers, among others, joined in the walk, which started from the Ikeja under bridge area through Awolowo Way to the Lagos House, Alausa.

The governor, who displayed a placard with the inscription ‘Stop Rape, Domestic Violence, Child Abuse’, said men must take a stand by tackling the menace of gender-based crimes in the society.

He said, “Women are mostly the victims of sexual and gender-based violence and there is an evident trend of suppressing the voice of these victims due to the fact that these acts are perpetrated largely by men.

“We should not take for granted the effect of having emotionally and psychologically damaged women in our society, which could transcend to our children.”

Ambode said the government had initiated several programmes to assist the victims, adding that it was also pertinent to address the violent behaviour of men.

He said, “We firmly believe that the way forward is to continuously engage the men, as well as the community as a whole, to prevent and respond to all forms of gender-based violence.”

Ambode urged the participants in the walk to remain ambassadors in the fight against domestic and sexual violence.

“The conversation must be sustained in our workplaces, religious institutions, residential areas and the social media. If we all join hands, we can truly make Lagos uncomfortable for perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence,” he added.

The governor also commended the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, organisers of the walk, just as he said his administration would do more to ensure that the rights of the vulnerable in the state were adequately protected.
SOURCE: Punchng

Mudslide death: ‘We fled from Boko Haram to Lagos’

An indigene of Borno State, who fled the Boko Haram insurgency to Lagos, has called on the Lagos State government to come to their aid.

Hassan Aji, who resides in the slum, popularly called Kurata in Agidingbi Ikeja, made the call on Tuesday after a mudslide killed one of the residents of the slum.

A 16-year-old teenager, Faisa, who like Aji is from Borno State and resides in the slum, had been killed by a mudslide on Tuesday after days of heavy rainfall.

Appealing to the state government for help, Aji said, “We are all from Borno State. We left our villages because of Boko Haram. We relocated here about two years ago. Our villages are deserted.

“As I speak with you, I don’t know where my mother is. I have two wives and seven children and if the government sends us away from here, I don’t know where to go.”

After arriving Lagos from Borno, one of the slum’s resident, Ibrahim Aliu said they paid N24,000 per year as rent to some men who claimed to be working for the Lagos State Government to reside there.

It was gathered that there were about 100 people saying in the slum, which is located on Dosumu Street, Off Amara Olu Road, Agidingbi.

Majority of them are believed to be indigenes of Borno State, who fled the Boko Haram insurgency to Lagos.

The General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Michael Akindele, said the slum was not habitable.

He said, “The area is a buffer zone which is not good for human settlement. The Lagos State Government has been sensitising people staying in flood-prone areas and wetland to vacate such areas to avert loss of lives especially, during this rainy season.”

SOURCE: PUNCHNG

How 14-year-old girl was lured with N30, raped by school teacher in Lagos

A secondary school teacher, Cosmos Ubaja, was on Monday arrested by the police in Lagos State for allegedly raping a 14-year-old schoolgirl in Ikorodu area of the state.

The unnamed teenager had gone to Ubaja’s shop to make photocopies after school hours when the accused lured her into sleeping with her.

The suspect, who owns a computer centre in the area, was contracted by the school to teach the junior pupils computer studies.

According to the Punch, the victim, a Junior Secondary School, Class 3 student in a public secondary school in the Owutu area of Ikorodu, had been allegedly raped by the suspect on several occasions in eight months and was always given peanuts such as N50, N100 and N30, each time.

Ubaja, a father of one had been raping the girl for months and the girl kept the secret away from her parents.

The last straw which broke the camel’s back was on June 1 when the girl complained to her mother that she had stomach pains and her menstrual cycle was affected.

She was then taken to a private hospital where it was discovered that she had been raped several times.

The teenager confessed that it was the computer instructor who raped her and he was arrested.

The matter was reported at the Owutu Police Division and also to the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, DSVRT, Alausa.

The DSVRT team took the victim for a checkup at the Mirabel Centre, Ikeja.

The group’s Coordinator, Lola Vivour-Adeniyi, said the matter had been transferred to the Gender Unit of the Lagos State Police Command.

According to her, “The 14-year-old girl was raped by her computer teacher near the school’s premises.

“The teacher and some individuals around the school initially pleaded with the girl’s parents not to report to the police. Fortunately, they rejected the plea.

“The perpetrator is in police custody and the case has been transferred from the division to the Gender Unit at the police headquarters, Ikeja. The Directorate of Public Prosecutions has also requested the duplicate case file.”

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said Ubaja has confessed to the crime and will be charged to court soon.

SOURCE: Punchng