The month of March is usually landmarks of celebrations for women. One of such landmarks of celebration took place on March 8th 2022, being International Women’s Day (IWD). As part of activities to celebrate the 2022 IWD, Women’s Health and Action Research Centre (WHARC) in partnership with Centre of Excellence for Reproductive Health Innovation (CERHI) organized a Public Lecture on the role of the police in tackling gender based violence in Edo State, which held at Dr. Natalia Kanem Event Hall in WHARC Premises. Present at the occasion were The Speaker of the Event – Mr. Philip Aliya Ogbadu (Edo State Commissioner of Police) ably represented by DSP Magdalene Idemudia (Officer-in-Command (O.C), Gender Unit, State CID). The O.C Gender Unit, reiterated the fact that gender based violence is a crime which affects both male and female. Furthermore, she stressed that the police have roles to play in arresting and prosecuting anybody who commits offenses on gender based violence such as rape, defilement and indecent assault, amongst others. She encouraged those who suffer gender based violence and the general public to speak up by reporting to the police for appropriate action to be taken.
The Chairperson of the occasion, Honorable Justice Akomolafe Tinuade Wilson (Retired Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal), stated that “Both women and men experience gender based violence, but the majority of victims are women and girls.” Furthermore, she commended WHARC for the giant strides it has made in seeking to improve the reproductive health and social well-being of women, youth, and adolescents in Africa and called for an end to violence against women through collective efforts.
Other Dignitaries present at the event include the First Lady of Edo State – Her Excellency, Mrs. Betsy Bene Obaseki, ably represented by Dr. Georgina Eromonsele, The Chief Judge of Edo State – Hon. Justice Joe Acha, ably represented by Hon. Justice Joy Okeaya-Inneh, and Mr. Urowayino Eyinnisan, representative of the former first lady of Edo State and Founder Idia Renaissance – Chief Mrs. Eki Igbinedion, The SUG President UNIBEN – Mr. Foster Amadin and Miss ECOWAS MBGN 2021 – Miss Lydia Okojie. The public lecture also had in attendance representatives of students from Idia Girls College and UDSS, Staff of WHARC and CERHI, Learned Fellows from all disciplines of human endeavor, and Virtual Participants within and outside Nigeria.
Awards were presented to 7 persons in honour of their immense contributions towards tackling gender based violence in Edo State. Commenting on the lecture, The Executive Director of WHARC– Dr. Wilson Imongan expressed the need for everyone to be enlightened on the menace of gender based violence and encouraged everyone to lend their voices towards eradicating it. The Programme Coordinator, CERHI – Miss Vivian Onoh noted that it was an educative and enlightenment programme meant to encourage people to know about gender based violence and report GBV cases to the police. Indeed, lessons from the public lecture would continue to serve as a springboard to the issues of gender based violence in not just Edo State, but in Nigeria and globally.
