Chief Medical Director of the Yola Specialist Hospital, Bala Saidu, has said that crimes against women are on the rise in Adamawa and other North-east states.
He stated this while speaking during the commissioning of a Sexual Assault Referral Centre, (Adamawa Hope Centre) in Yola on Tuesday, adding that the “major crimes against women include rape, kidnapping, torture, molestation, sexual harassment and trafficking.”
“At the Yola Specialist Hospital only, we record at least two cases of rape in a week and crimes against women are on the increase in this part of the country.
“It is so disheartening that culprits are left unpunished and unfortunately poorer sections of society and minors are prime targets of rape, all hands must be on deck to fight it, we are all stakeholders,” he said.
Wife of the Adamawa state Governor, Mrs. Maryam Jibrilla, while commissioning the Centre, decried the “increasing incidences of rape, especially among teenagers.”
She advised parents to be careful over their female children, saying “female children have become more vulnerable and exposed to sexual assault.”
Also speaking, the National Programme Manager of the Managing Conflicts in Nigeria (MCN), Mohammed Tabiu, said one of the areas his agency “covers is addressing the rising incidences of sexual and gender-based violence in target states.”
He said: “Adamawa Hope Centre is expected to address the huge gap in support services for victims of sexual assault by providing free and immediate emergency medical treatment, trauma counseling as well as legal advice where necessary.
“The programme is also to enhance state and community level conflict management capacity into violence in the targeted states through free inter-related areas of work. MCN Programme is partnering with the Adamawa State ministries of Health, Justice and Women Affairs to provide care for the survivors and help them cope with the trauma.”
