The agency monitoring punishment of offenders under the Violence against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) act says funding, inadequate shelter and difficulties in prosecution continue to plague nationwide implementation of VAPP.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says only three states have put legislation against violence since VAPP was passed in 2015.
“The VAPP act has to be translated into having real meaning for Nigerians,” said Ijeoma Amugo, assistant director of NAPTIP’s legal and prosecution department.
“We have to move toward a Nigeria where victims get justice, and tradition and culture change such that violence becomes an exception.”
She spoke at a workshop in Abuja on effective implementation of VAPP and its equivalent in Lagos, organised by the International Federal of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria.
NAPTIP is prosecuting some 31 criminal cases in court against offending suspects and investigating 18 other cases of violence.
Its shelters, reserved to house rescued victims of trafficking are now being used also for victims of rape and violence in its custody, said Amugo.
VAPP covers nearly 30 offences from rape and injury to indecent conduct and indecent exposure, but FIDA worries that states are yet to adopt it three years since it was passed, citing issues FIDA thinks are still persistent.
“They believe it was against their religious or cultural beliefs,” said Fatima Idris, vice president of FIDA Nigeria.
“We are working with houses of assembly to see how we can modify [it ahead of adopting] so that it represents what the VAPP act is about.”
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