The Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Mr Abimbola Olugbenga, has assured citizens of the state that the command would not compromise on cases relating to sexual abuses.
Olugbenga gave the assurance during an advocacy visit to the Police Command Headquarters in Eleyele, by the Oyo State Media Corps on Ending Sexual and Gender-Based Volence (ESGBV), on Monday in Ibadan.
He said that the command has always taken with seriousness cases involving children, women, and the vulnerable, especially sexually related cases.
” We don’t compromise on any violence against humanity cases” the CP said.
Olugbenga said that cases of defilement, rape and other SGBV cases must be taken seriously in order to deter others and reduce the trend to the bare minimum for the good of the state and Nigeria at large
The CP said that the command would continue to collaborate with Oyo State ESGBV media Corps and other stakeholders in order to tackle the menace.
Olugbenga cited a recent breakthrough recorded by the command on SGBV issue where a child allegedly sold by her mother was recovered as well as the rescue of a nine-day-old baby from human traffickers.
He said that the traffickers of the nine-day-old baby swapped the baby with a dead baby to deceive the parents.
Olugbenga said that the perpetrators of those offences would be charge to court in order to serve as deterrent to others.
He, however, said that the command does encounter challenges when prosecuting some rape or defilement cases especially when perpetrators involved are fathers or other relatives of the survivors.
According to him, the command sometimes finds it difficult in getting evidences in prosecuting cases of that nature because relatives of the survivors don’t come out to give evidence in court.
The CP further said that the command had established designated gender desks at police stations in the 33 local government areas of the state in order to strengthen its response to SGBV and improve access to police intervention.
Earlier, the Oyo State ESGBV Media Corps team lead, Mr Henry Odeh, highlighted the strategic efforts of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in collaboration with European Union and International IDEA to end SGBV.
Odeh commended the command for its collaboration with the media and solicited for stronger partnership for improved reporting while protecting survivors and holding offenders to account.(NAN)
