Justice Aisha Ndume has revealed that rape cases constitute 90 percent of criminal cases handled by various courts in Borno state in the last two years.

Justice Ndume made the revelation at on Tuesday at a 2-day training workshop for legal actors on strengthening Women’s Access To Justice with the theme: Making Rights A Reality For Conflict Affected Women In Borno and Yobe states, organised by Women Advocates Research And Documentation Centre ( WARDC ) , in conjunction with Government of Netherlands and UN Women in Maiduguri.

In her remarks, the Executive Secretary WARDC , Dr Abiola Akiyode – Afolabi , disclosed that statistics from the International Federation of Women Lawyers ( FIDA ) , showed that over 39 rape cases were recorded in Borno state within two months of the COVID-19 lockdown.

She said the WARDC project is engaging the parliament and state governments on the need to have the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law, noting that as it is today, the law has gotten to second reading and that WARDC will work to ensure that the law is passed because of its benefits to the society.

She said:” Most of the cases of sexual and gender based violence go unreported in places like Borno and Yobe states because the culture of reporting is not integrated yet to the communities. So the project is to ensure more reporting of SBGV.

Source:- Leadership Ng