The Federal Government’s Janus-faced position on the National Gender Policy has been condemned by the President of Women In Politics Forum (WIPF), Ebere Ifendu.

Ifendu who was interrogating why the Muhammadu Buhari administration came up with the policy in the first place, said it is highly incongruous for an administration to make a law, go against it, and at the same time challenge it in court.

Speaking in Abuja during the recent one year in office and award ceremony of the National President of the National Council for Women Societies (NCWS), Hajia Lami Adamu Lau, the Women In Politics boss, said:

“We went to court and won on the 35 percent affirmation. It is very embarrassing for a government to appeal such a judgement that is based on its own policy. So why did you come up with the policy?

“Sadly, the gender policy was just revised and assented to by the present government and you are in court against your own policy.

“We need to do better to get the political party to give more women tickets to run for seats If we have more women as candidates, it means that more women will win elections, we have to talk about political parties being deliberate about supporting women.

“Although we did not get much women at the Senate, it goes a long way as more women are being conscious and participation is not only when one wins election but the general involvement as election observers, as party agents, women canvassing for votes for other women, that is a huge success for us.”

To the incoming administration, Ebere Ifendu that it “takes a bold step firstly, to withdraw the case in court, then ensures that as they are nominating for ministerial appointment, they are giving a minimum of 35 percent as this was part of their campaign promises as this shows they are responsible to their words because if you are not committed to your words then we cannot trust you. We are hopeful that the right thing will be done this time.”

On Wednesday 6 April 2022, the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the federal government to enforce the National Gender Policy by allotting 35 percent of appointments in the public sector to women.

Nine civil society organisations filed a suit against the Nigerian government on 24 August 2020, seeking the implementation of the 35 percent Affirmative Action in appointments of women into public office.

The plaintiffs include the Women Empowerment & Legal Aid (WELA) Initiative, the Nigeria Women Trust Fund (NWTF), International Federation of Women Lawyers, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD -West Africa).

The others are the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), Vision Spring Initiatives (VSI), Women In Politics Forum (WIPF), 100 Women Lobby Group, and YIAGA Africa.

In his judgement Hon. Justice Donatus Okorowo agreed with the plaintiffs that Nigerian women had been subjected to various forms of discrimination concerning appointments into key positions of government.

The judge dismissed the preliminary objection of the federal government which had argued that the plaintiff’s case did not disclose any cause of action.

Citing Section 42 of the Nigerian constitution as it relates to the suit, His Lordship upheld the plaintiffs’ contention to the effect “that of all the 44 ministries, there are only about six females in leadership position, and that the situation is worse in other MDAs and agencies.”

Okorowo noted that the defendant, by its conduct, insinuates that there are no competent and reliable women that should be appointed to “stop the apparent male dominance as witnessed in the appointments” of men into key government positions.

“I agree with their (plaintiff) contention that this cannot be possible out of 70 million women in Nigeria,” Mr Okorowo said.

The judge held that the Attorney-General of the Federation (Abubakar Malami) who was the sole defendant in the case, “failed to disprove the material allegations contained in the affidavit, and led no credible evidence to debunk material evidence of the plaintiff.”

“The plaintiff has led cogent, verifiable evidence backed by incontrovertible depositions in their affidavit evidence contrary to the objections raised by the defendant.

“These violations with impunity and reckless abandon were projected by the plaintiff… the defendant merely based their arguments on the grounds that the plaintiff’s demands are not justiceable.

“Dismantling barriers to women’s participation in public spheres has been achieved through progressive interpretation of municipal laws and international obligations and treaties.

“Formulating Policies based on sex, stereotyping, and feudal and patriarchal traditions will no longer be tolerated due to the supremacy of constitutional values…

“This court is not expected to achieve less for Nigerian women, since the constitutional obligation of this court is to apply the law.”

Dissatisfied with the verdict, the Nigerian government headed to the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal seeking an order “setting aside the judgment; striking out and/or dismissing the Respondents’ (women) suit in its entirety.”

The lawyers for Appellants (Federal Government and AGF; T. A. Gazali, SAN, T. D. Agbe, Suleiman Jibril, Ibukun Okoosi, Onyinye Halliday, O. D. Okoronkwo from Department of Civil Appeals Federal Ministry of Justice formulated 16 grounds of appeal for determination.

The government on one of its grounds submitted that: “The learned trial judge erred in law when he held that the Respondents’ suit was founded on enforcement of fundamental rights, and therefore disclosed a cause of action against the Appellants.

“Particulars Of Error: The Respondents’ suit was for the enforcement of the National gender policy. The National gender policy for 35% affirmative action on the appointment of women is not based on Chapter 4 of the Constitution. The National gender policy was a Federal Government policy which cannot be enforced by way of fundamental rights.

By Lillian Okenwa

Intimate partner violence was taken notches higher when two different eight months pregnant women were brutally murdered by their husbands.

Days ago, the photo of 35-year-old Ntombizodwa Khumalo trended on social media after her ex-husband shot her in the full glare of people. She was eight months pregnant.

Earlier in the year, an Akure High Court, sitting in Ondo state, sentenced 34-year-old Oluwaseun Olabode, to death by hanging, for killing his eight-month-old, pregnant wife, Adaeze 0labode, three years ago at their Oke-Ogba Estate resident in Akure.

At about 7. 00 p.m. on 3 April 2020, Olabode, according to the prosecutors, hit his wife Adaeze Olabode, with a blunt object on the right side of her abdomen while she was heavily pregnant.  She died as a result.

In his verdict, the trial judge, Hon. Justice A. Adebusoye, said the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced Olabode to death by hanging.

The prosecutors led by H.M Falowo Esq, a Chief Legal Officer Falowo said the case of murder was reported on May 5, 2020, through a petition written to the Commissioner of Police, Ondo State Command, by one Dr Henry Orumen Esq. on behalf of the family of the deceased, Mrs Blessing Adaeze Olabode, against Olabode Oluwaseun.

Adaeze and Olabode got married in 2014. She was pregnant with their second child, which was found dead in her womb a few days before her demise.

According to the Police report, an autopsy report conducted on the corpse of the deceased showed that irregular bruises and abrasions on the right side of the lower part of her abdomen caused a trauma that was so intense to have ruptured her uterus. The complications reportedly led to Adaeze’s death.

While the convict, denied having fought with his wife, the deceased’s family insisted in their petition and testimonies before the court that she suffered assault from her husband several times which eventually led to her death.

In the course of his testimony, the father of the deceased, Mr. Anya, said that his daughter suffered violent maltreatment from her husband and mother-in-law, Stella Olabode.

“At a point in their marriage, my daughter attempted suicide and left a suicide note but l waded into the matter and brokered peace between the couple.

“After my daughter’s death on April 14, 2020, her corpse was abandoned at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Owo, until the intervention of my immediate younger brother,” Anya said.

Another witness, a consultant pathologist, O.E Pelemo, said that he performed an autopsy on the corpse of Adaeze Blessing Olabode.

Pelemo told the court that he noticed irregular bruises and abrasions on the right side of the lower part of the deceased’s abdomen, and found the cause of death to be a wound caused by blunt force trauma to the abdomen which resulted in an internal wound and bleeding.

The late Ntombizodwa Khumalo whose photograph was posted on Monday, May 8, 2023, by Women For Change, an NGO advocating for the protection of the constitutional rights of women in South Africa, was killed by her ex-husband, Jonnas Tebogo Mpete, at Brits Hospital in North West on 5 April 2023.

Eight months pregnant Ntombizodwa worked as a desk operator at the hospital. The suspect, a 39-year-old police officer stationed at Rapid Rail in Silverton, had allegedly threatened her for months before ultimately gunning her down in full view of the staff and patients at the hospital.

He handed himself over to the police after allegedly calling a family member, informing them that he had murdered Ntombizodwa. It is alleged that they got married in 2016, but five years into the marriage, she left him when the abuse worsened.

Her family said she often had bruises all over her body and that the family tried to intervene many times. It is alleged that the Ntombizodwa obtained a protection order against the accused in 2021. The suspect is now facing a charge of premeditated murder. 

Similarly, a 25-year-old woman identified as Eunice has been butchered by her husband for seeking a divorce after one year of marriage. The sad event took place at Nungua in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.

Local publications reported that her husband macheted her during a scuffle and she died on the spot after the attack. The suspect was also said to have attacked his father-in-law.

Eunice had reportedly moved out of the house due to alleged emotional and physical abuse by her husband. Her father, Ebenezer Dwomoh, who confirmed her death during an interview on Adom FM’s morning show, said they are still in shock.

 Dwomoh said Eunice went to her husband’s house to present a summon letter from Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit when the incident occurred.

 Mr. Dwomoh described his son-in-law as a serial wife beater which forced his daughter to move out of the house.  

“Eunice moved out of the house because she could no longer take the beatings so this man decided to make life a living hell for her. He will even come to our house and beat her. He follows my daughter everywhere she goes and beat her until he finally killed her that faithful day.”

Residents in the area apprehend the suspect and subjected him to severe beating when he tried to escape after committing the heinous crime.

 The deceased’s father added that but for the timely interventions of the police, the suspect would have been lynched. He appealed to the Ghana Police Service to ensure the suspect faces the full harshness of the law.

In the meantime, a 56-year-old former boxer, Moses Olapade, was said to have sent his wife, Tinuke, into a coma at their residence in Oke-Aro Community, Akure, Ondo State, following an argument over a television remote.

A source who does not want to be mentioned said Olopade returned home, from a journey that day and wanted to watch a programme on the television but his wife refused to give him the remote so he could tune in to his preferred channel.

An argument ensued and an infuriated Olopade, who is also a truck driver, reportedly rained punches on the woman and she fell down and became unconscious.

The source said it was the screaming of the children that attracted neighbours to the scene. They quickly rushed the victim to a nearby hospital, where she was resuscitated.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Funmilayo Odunlami, said she was yet to be briefed on the matter.

The PPRO stated,” I have called the DPO of the Area ( B Division Police Station), but he said the matter was not reported at the police station.”

While the worsening unemployment and poverty in Nigeria have been attributed to bad economic policies by leaders, others maintain that the get-rich-quick syndrome among the country’s youths today is a major factor impeding economic development in Nigeria.

Days ago, 18-year-old Samuel Akpobome Emobor, confessed that he killed his mother and slept with her corpse for money ritual.

Samuel who was paraded at the Edo State Police Command said he committed the act at their rented apartment in Ologbo community in Ikpoba-Okha local government area.

The Oghara Delta State indigene said he was pushed to commit the act by a ritualist who sells drugs in the community.

Hear him: “I wanted to use my mother for ritual. I am 18 years old. My father is dead. It was one man called One Love that told me to use my mother for money ritual. He promised to give me N50,000 if I kill my mother and sleep with her. He said I should cut my mother’s ear and fingers and bring them to him.

“I wanted to cut the ears and fingers before the people came in. I slept with my mother only once. I pressed my mother’s neck to kill her while she was sleeping. The One Love sells drugs. He put something inside the drink he gave me and he told me to go and kill my mother.

“The day I went to his house with policemen, the man has ran away. I hail from Oghara. I work in a pure water factory.

“I now feel very bad because I was beaten badly by people. I did what the ritualist told me.”

The Commissioner of Police, Babatunde Kokumo, said the suspect would soon be charged to court.

By Eke Ojim

Justice Jeremiah Johnson of the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, United Kingdom (UK), received over 50 letters seeking mitigation for Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice.  

But it does appear that after reviewing the former Deputy Senate President’s economic standing, he had other views.

According to His Lordship: “You, Ike Ekweremadu are a senator in Nigeria’s National Assembly. You have held high political office. You have many staff including domestic staff, maids, chefs, and drivers.

“You have multiple properties around the globe. There is evidence that these properties are more than 40.

“Over £400,000 went into your bank account over a period of six months.”

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