We’ll pass bill against gender violence next week – Kaduna speaker

Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly Yusuf Zailani has said the house will soon pass the Gender Related Violence Prohibition Bill as Amended into law to address cases of rape in the state.

He gave the assurance when he received the wife of the state governor, Ummi Ahmed El-Rufai, at the House chamber.

“This is the first time we will be receiving a sitting governor’s wife coming to the assembly to make a case of this magnitude; a case on rape for that matter.

“With evidence, you have shown to us in the presence of my honourable members, my body is weak. This is sad; this is terrible. We are in trouble. We need to move forward. By next week, we are going to pass the bill into law,” he said.

Ummi’s visit to the assembly was coming ahead of the public hearing on the bill for a law to amend the Kaduna State Penal Code 2017 after the bill scaled through second reading.

The bill sought to amend Section 258 of the principal law to make it more effective in protecting the citizens of the state, particularly women and children, against rape and other sexual violence cases.

According to the governor’s wife, only harsh penalty would bring an end to rising cases of rape across the state. She said the state records five cases of rape daily and the perpetrators were not given harsh penalties to serve as deterrent to others.