Sokoto District Heads to go tough on ‘GBV’ in their Domain

The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has granted approval to district heads to remove any traditional ruler found concealing cases of violence against women and children in his domain.

This was revealed by the Wazirin Sokoto and Chairman Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs of the Sultanate Council, Professor Sambo Wali Junaid during a courtesy visit as part of the activities of the four-day media dialogue on ethical reporting for media practitioners in Sokoto as part of the Spotlight Initiative Programme.

The Wazirin says people are now more aware and enlighten about the implication of engaging in any acts gear towards assaulting or abusing the right of women or girls.

According to him, the fight against this menace by the Sultanan council is now in the public glare and those who think they can go away with the crime now know it is not possible with the involvement of the Sultanate Council.

He says a strict warning have been issued to all the eighty six districts heads in Sokoto to desist from conniving to conceal cases of sexual gender based violence or any form of violence against women in their domain.

According to him, any district head found wanting in this regard will loss his title and will be made to face the law in court without the intervention of the Sultanate Council.

He says this has helped in reducing cases of gender based violence in most of the districts and has proven to be one of the most potent strategy that is working towards reducing the menace of violence against women and girls in most of the districts and the state in general.

Meanwhile the community awareness and development Initiative (CADI) has trained over two hundred Juma’at Mosques Imams and some traditional rulers on ways to address Gender Based Violence GBV and other Harmful practices in Sokoto state.

The Chief Executive and Founder of CADI Sani Umar Jabbi says the effort was supported by the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative Project aimed at eliminating violence against women and girls.

Umar-Jabbi, who is the District Head of Gagi, says the activity was targeted at enhancing scholars’ capacity on modern knowledge and global scholars’ submissions on GBV and harmful practices, adding that other district heads will be informed, involved and enlightened.

He says 50 Imams were captured in each of Tangaza, Binji, Bodinga and Sokoto North local government areas covered by Spotlight Project in Sokoto state.

He says participants were educated on importance of girl child education, accessing right medications in designated hospitals including anti natal care and child spacing techniques..

According to him, most scholars in rural communities have poor access to educational materials relevant for handling issues surrounding sexual abuses and other forms of violence.