…Victims receive help, offenders warned as agency intensifies action

By Josephine Oguntoyinbo

The Ondo State Government has expressed strong disapproval of the rising cases of gender-based violence, including physical assault, battering, and emotional abuse against women and vulnerable persons in the state.

The Special Adviser to the Ondo State Governor on Women Affairs, Dr Seun Osamaye, made this known at the A Division Women’s Special Gender Unit while adopting the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) method to address complaints, including cases of physical assault involving a woman from Ondo town and a young widow from Akure.

Dr Osamaye, who noted that lack of financial empowerment contributes to women’s vulnerability to domestic abuse, condemned the battering of women, stating that such actions suggest that perpetrators are taking the law into their own hands.

She cited a recent case involving 28-year-old Dada Afeez, who was severely beaten on the instructions of her aunt, Mrs Mary Shola, from the Yaba area of Ondo town, for failing to clean a gas cooker. The act was described as wicked and unacceptable.

Mrs Shola, who pleaded for leniency alongside her family, was made to sign an undertaking never to repeat such behaviour. She explained that she had been accommodating Dada Afeez, along with her husband and three children.

Dr Osamaye further provided financial assistance to Dada Afeez to enable her to start a petty trade and support her children.

In another development, the Special Adviser mediated a dispute between a young widow and members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). The widow alleged that following a minor disagreement with an NURTW officer, she was physically assaulted by him and some of his associates.

The widow, who operates a Point of Sale (POS) business, lost her husband a few years ago and had received support from the park management and some NURTW members prior to the fallout.

Reacting to the incident, Dr Osamaye described it as a case of a relationship turned sour. She advised the victim to exercise restraint to avoid conflicts and condemned the offenders for resorting to violence, stressing that no individual has the right to take the law into their own hands.

She reiterated the state government’s stance, under Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, that lawbreakers, especially those involved in gender-based violence, would be prosecuted without hesitation.

Dr Osamaye commended the Ondo State Agency Against Gender-Based Violence (OSSAAGBV), led by Executive Secretary, Barrister Mrs Bolanle Afolabi, for consistently responding promptly to such cases.

In her remarks, Barrister Afolabi stated that in April alone, the agency had intervened in 22 cases of domestic violence, three cases of spousal abandonment, and eight cases involving child welfare. She also confirmed that two rape cases are currently in court.

She reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to eradicating gender-based violence and called on the public to support its mandate. She stressed that victims abandoning their cases after reporting hinders resolution, obstructs justice, and allows further abuse.

Afolabi urged members of the public to assist in exposing abusers and lawbreakers in order to achieve a safer society.