eeved by the increasing cases of rape in the country, the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, has announced a collaborative effort with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, and the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, to bring perpetrators to book and halt the trend.

Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Tony Ojukwu Esq, said the Commission is more than ever determined to deal with cases of Sexual and Gender Based Violence SGBV brought before it, by frequently engaging the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons NAPTIP and the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, for urgent prosecution of such cases.

Ojukwu stated this during a tripartite meeting between the Commission, the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, which took place at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

Also at the meeting was the Rule of Law Advisor, Office of the Vice President, Dr Fatima Waziri-Azi, who pledged to partner with the three organizations to train and improve their capacity to tame the scourge of SGBV and create awareness to prevent such case

s. According to Ojukwu, it has become necessary to work assiduously with relevant agencies in order to ensure that such cases are adequately prosecuted and not swept under the carpet.

He lamented that recent reports received by the Commission, including those in the print and electronic media, reveal that SGBV cases especially rape have become a serious social malady which is taking an epidemic proportion.

“This must be curtailed”, he stated. The human rights chief however expressed dismay at how survivors of Rape/SGBV cases are usually stigmatized and humiliated by the public, including some law enforcement officials.