As one of its major focus to address issues relating to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) which is fast becoming the norm in most households in Nigeria, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has this time re-united a family of six after two months of estrangement occasioned by dehumanizing acts domestic violence.
While reuniting the family, the Executive Secretary of the Commission Tony Ojukwu Esq stated that in line with the mandate of the Commission, protection of families affected by domestic violence and lack of parental responsibility will always be a top priority.
He said the Commission had earlier received complaints from the survivor, on alleged incessant assault and threat by her husband. In order to safeguard her life, the Commission provided protection for her by working out modalities for her to be admitted into a shelter provided by the Dorothy Njemanze Foundation, where she stayed with her children for two months.
During the formal handing over of the woman and her four children who have been at the shelter since 1st march 2021 to the husband, in the presence of her brother and other witnesses, the Executive Secretary tasked the husband to take necessary steps to ensure that he lives up to his responsibilities as a husband and father, adding that “this is a divine mandate bestowed on man”.
Ojukwu also informed the family that the Commission’s office in Kogi State will continue to monitor them in line with the signed Terms of Settlement (TOS) to ensure strict adherence.
The human rights Boss used the opportunity of reuniting the family to present food items and a cash donation to Dorothy Njemanze Foundation, as he commended the Foundation for the partnership existing between the Commission and the Foundation especially in the area of provision of shelter to victims of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).
In his contribution, the Director of the Department of Women and Children, Mr. Harry Oguche Obe, thanked the Executive Secretary for providing the leadership to address recurrent issues of SGBV, saying that this has further concretized his commitment towards the promotion, protection, and enforcement of human rights in the country.
On her part, the Executive Director Dorothy Njemanze Foundation, represented by a staff of the Foundation Miss Urmi, thanked the Commission on behalf of the Foundation for the continuous partnership existing between the two organizations as they look forward to a more robust partnership in the future.
