Richard Elesho/ Lokoja

The Wife of the Governor of Kogi State, Mrs. Rashida Bello has added her voice in the condemnation of the upsurge in rape and other violent acts against women and children across the country. She advocated for concerted efforts from all stakeholders to check the menace.

Mrs. Bello made her position known when she received members of the Kogi State Branch of National Human Rights Commission in her office. The group was on advocacy campaign tagged “War Against Rape.”

The First Lady who was represented by her Senior Special Assistant on Administration, Victor Okee commended the group for the initiative and promised to do all within her power to join in fighting for the rights and protection of women and children.

According to her “rape has no place in our society hence the need for all hands to be on deck in creating awareness on the rights of our children and the need to protect them at all times” .

“I will not hesitate to give financial assistance to parents of rape victims in prosecuting rape cases in courts to ensure that justice is obtained” the governor’s wife further assured.

Earlier, the state coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission, Nuhu Mohammed had informed the governor’s wife that most of the rape cases before the police had been withdrawn due to lack of funds by the parents of the victims to prosecute the matters in court.

He therefore called on the Governor’s Wife and Ministry of Women Affairs to render financial support to these poor parents to enable them pursue cases of their children to a logical conclusion.

It would be recalled that rape cases have been on the increase in Nigeria, since the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Adamu, who recently briefed President Buhari on the matter noted that the police recorded over 700 rape cases in the last five months.