The police have said no fewer than 150 persons were convicted of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and child abuse cases between 2019 and 2020.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, stated this in Abuja at a high-level multi-agency consultative meeting on the implementation of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015.

According to Mr. Adamu, represented by Garba Umar, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Interpol, the police have more than 2,000 cases undergoing prosecution in various courts.

He said that the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act 2015 was signed into law to address cases of SGBV with its debilitating effects, especially on the vulnerable group.

Mr. Adamu said, “As part of the efforts to ensure the enforcement and implementation of the act and other anti legal instruments in addressing SGBV, the Force Gender Officer has been directed to regularly coordinate and collate SGBV data across commands and formations.

“The idea is for the force to have a near accurate data for cases of SGBV and Violence Against Children (VAC). In a bid to enforce the recently passed Sexual Harassment Bill 2020, I have initiated actions to strengthen the gender desk across the various tertiary institutions in the country.”

According to him, with the support of strategic partners, a gender laboratory has been established at the Force Criminal Investigation Department for prompt analysis of SGBV and cases involving children.

He said the facility would be inaugurated in May and that the drafting and validation of the SGBV training manual for the police were underway.

In her remarks, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Director General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), said the meeting was to re-emphasise the need for accurate data production in SGBV cases.