Nigeria recorded 27,698 cases of sexual and gender-based violence between 2020 and 2023.

Data Manager of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Sunday Agbakaba, stated this during the train-the-trainers workshop on the use of the GBV dashboard and reportage on Tuesday in Umuahia, Abia State.

He said the data was obtained since the inception of the GBV National Dashboard between 2020 and October 2023.

Breaking down the figures, Mr Agbakaba said the ministry recorded 1,145 fatal GBV cases, with 393 perpetrators convicted within the period under review.

He explained that the dashboard also showed 9,636 open cases, 3,432 new cases, 1,741 closed cases, and 1,895 follow-up cases.

“The dashboard is an innovative central reporting and data visualisation platform for real-time tracking of different types and locations of GBV in the country,” he said.

According to him, the dashboard is designed to enhance SGBV reportage in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

He said that Abia, with 92 reported incidents and four fatal cases, was at the bottom of the GBV national dashboard.

Also, Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Ohanenye, said the training was designed to encourage Abia to key into the reporting of the national dashboard, following the increase in the rate of GBV.

Represented by Tony Iwere, Director of Planning, Research and Statistics in the ministry, Ms Ohanenye said that there was a need to report the crime so that the perpetrators would be punished.

“We realised that most times, religious leaders or traditional rulers suppress most of these cases in churches or palaces. Rape is a criminal case; no person has the right or mandate to stop it except the court, and that is why we are escalating it to the front burner,” the minister said.

Earlier, the Abia Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Ngozi Felix, said that there many gender-based violence cases happening daily in the state.

She commended the state governor, Alex Otti and his wife for their support towards protecting and empowering women and girls in the state.

The commissioner said that no meaningful result would be achieved in the fight against GBV without political will.

Ms Felix also commended the FWMA for its commitment to the stakeholders’ training on GBV reportage.

“The culture of silence that abates this crime in our society is what we have gathered here today to break. We are going to formulate a structure that will help us to work together after this training so that we can have consistent stakeholder engagement,” she said.

The exercise is organised in collaboration with the FMWA, the Office of the Wife of Abia Governor, and the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

It attracted representatives of civil society organisations, community-based organisations and law enforcement agents, among others.

(NAN)