The Katsina State Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Centre says it has successfully treated 10 GBV-related cases and repatriated two survivors back to their families, within a month of its inauguration.
The Coordinator of the state’s newly-established GBV Centre, Hajia Rabi Mohammed, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Katsina on Wednesday.
NAN reports that the state ministry of women affairs recently established a special GBV Centre, which was inaugurated on Dec. 9, 2023 to handle related issues.
Recently, the state assembly also approved the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law, while the Child Protection Laws Implementation Committee was also inaugurated by Gov. Dikko Radda of Katsina.
The coordinator disclosed that one of the cases they treated was that of a girl that ran away from her family in Kano with her one-year old baby.
According to her, “This is a case of a girl who ran away from her family in Kano and was forced into commercial sex out of frustration and poverty. She came with a one-year old boy.
“Due to violence and beating from her husband and family, she left home and was sleeping on the street here in Katsina. Upon encountering this lady, she asked the government to take her back home.
“We have successfully returned her to her family in collaboration with the Kano State Ministry of Women Affairs and the Hisbah Board.”
Mohammed added that there had been another case of a 10-year old girl from Nasarawa State, who was brought to Katsina as a house help but maltreated by her employer.
The coordinator said that the girl ran away from the house, adding that the case had also been successfully resolved.
“There was a case of a young boy who was sodomised by a family member. The boy was hospitalised with rectum prolapse, but later recovered and was discharged.
The coordinator said that with the cooperation of the police, judiciary, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) and the Hisbah Board, it was working to ensure that justice was done to the survivors.
She also mentioned the case of an underage girl who was forced into marriage by her father, to an elderly man.
According to Mohammed, the marriage has been dissolved and the girl reunited with her family.
She explained that the centre had also treated six other different cases.
“The establishment of the GBV Centre reflects our collective determination to foster a safer environment for residents of the state,” the centre’s coordinator said.
She appealed to government at all levels, community and religious leaders, private and international organisations, philanthropists, media and other wealthy individuals to support the centre