No fewer than 89 cases of husbands being battered by their wives has been reported in Lagos State.
This was made known on Tuesday by Cecilia Bolaji Dada, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA).
Dada who in Ikeja held a ministerial news conference to mark the second year of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in office, confirmed that the year 2020, recorded 46 men who reported at the ministry that their wives violated them.
Dada added that in the first quarter of 2021, a total of 43 men reported battering by their wives, making a total of 89 in the last two years.
She said this was the cases reported to WAPA and that some cases had been reported directly to the Ministry of Justice and police station which the ministry might not be aware.
Dada, however, disclosed that a total of 664 women were battered by their husbands in Lagos in the last two years according to cases reported at WAPA.
Giving a breakdown, the commissioner said 378 women were violated by their husbands in 2020, while 286 women were battered by their husbands in the first quarter of 2021.
However, Dada disclosed that empowerment initiatives and Poverty Alleviation programmes of the ministry has impacted the lives of over 48,000 residents of the State in the last two years.
She said WAPA would also start exposing its trainees to the use of technology and also enlighten women on newer practices in vocational training, considering the effects of COVID-19 and the need to adapt with the new normal within the digital space.
In view of this, there will be training of 500 women on entrepreneurial and digital marketing techniques come June 2021, as part of plans to mark this year’s International Widows’ Day.”
“In addition, WAPA is equally expanding the scope of activities with a view to creating more avenues for our women to leverage on professional platform. That is why 5,780 participants were incorporated into our Mega Empowerment initiative, so that through their productivity, they can also contribute to the increase in GDP of Lagos State,” Dada stated.
On the training programmes by the Ministry, the Commissioner reported that there had been positive feedback on all the programmes offered at its Skills Acquisition Centres, either Short-Term, Medium – term and Long – term empowerment initiatives on different skills, stressing that the graduate trainees from the government’s skills acquisition centres across the State are now contributing to the economic growth of the State , as employers of labour.
In her words; “Our Mandate is to ensure that there is zero tolerance for mediocrity being caused by poverty, or induced by vulnerabilities from societal influences. This, we have achieved through the various trainings offered at the government-owned 19 skills acquisition centers in the State.
“The Ministry created platforms for International Women’s Day , with highlights on the dynamism of women and a plan of action for ‘Women Assembly’, with over 11,400 women in attendance from the 57 Local Government/Local Council Development Areas where issues that could deter women emancipation, as well as debar efforts exerted at curbing poverty, in our State were extensively discussed.”
She added that a total of 3,337 adults also benefited from the intervention health programmes, initiated by WAPA, stressing that 6, 780 women from 5 geographical areas of the State, also had the privilege of learning different vocations with participants receiving adequate start-up kits to enable them grow their businesses.
Credit: Inside Mainland
