Akintayo Olamide, the acting state coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Oyo State office, is an advocate against abuse, violation of rights and a voice for the oppressed. In this interview with YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE, she speaks about abuses, especially against women and her expectations.
What is your assessment of rights, especially those involving women and children violation in Oyo State?
I will say that violence against women and girls has intensively increased. And I’m going to say this based on the number of alleged cases of violation of women and children’s rights that we receive in the Oyo State office of the National Human Rights Commission. And let me add that 85 percent of complaints that come into the commission in Oyo State fall under women and children issue, although the commission also has other semantic areas where we attend to cases of violation of rights. We have bulk of complaints that comes for women and children. Also, based on the fact that I am familiar with Gender Protector Agency’s data for Oyo State, I will say there’s also large increase in such issues but we will keep on working. We will not keep quiet. We keep on working and we’ll keep on doing our best advocating against it. We hope and pray there will be reduction. We know there cannot be total eradication of such but there will be reduction of such cases.
What’s your case file like. Do people come to report?
Yes, we do receive complaints every day at the commission and we have different means of receiving complaints. Some walk in to lodge their complaints. The office email address is online that people forward their complaints to. And then a lot of people come to complain on behalf of victims as well. So we receive complaints every day. And I tell you, the majority of the complaints that come in are related to women and children issues. I will say 85 percent of it is related to women and children issues. In 2023, the Oyo State office received 328 cases and 175 of them were on women and children; violation of rights.
Do you get cases of emotional and financial abuse?
Yes, we do receive cases on economic violence, although it doesn’t come in as economic violence but it unravels during the process of mediation of another complaint that comes in, especially probably on issue of domestic violence, which economic violence is also part of. But sometimes, probably during case of physical violence or probably, abandonment of spouse or parental responsibilities, we find such issues. Those are the periods such complaint comes in.
What does your commission expect from the people in the fight against violation and abuses?
The commission is expecting the public to learn to speak out and fight for justice. We should not be tired or bothered about public opinion because we cannot satisfy everyone. A lot of people will rise and talk against you for reporting and seeking justice. One thing we should have at the back of our minds is to have our sanity and happiness as a priority. We can speak out on behalf of a victim and at the same time we can also speak out as a victim. We should not try to cover any violation around us. There are different mechanisms through which people can get assistance to get justice. We have different government agencies that they can approach to seek redress. National Human Rights Commission is one; Nigerian Police Force is another and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence (NSCDC) is there, as well as the judiciary and so many other government agencies that one can approach..
What will you say is responsible for the seeming rise in cases of abuse?
There are so many reasons that can cause violation of women and children’s rights. I can only make reference to few. Societal norm is part of it. Our culture and society have made us see our men as controlling, unemotional and dominant being while women are perceived to be a weaker vessel that should be controlled and be irrelevant in decision-making. It is so bad that when a woman complains or finds a displeasing act from a man towards her, she stands as an unsubmissive wife. And in most situations, there will be arguments at home and there will be issues, and all these things will lead to verbal abuse and physical violence. So, societal norm contributes to it. Another one is low socioeconomic status. We all understand what the economy is. Now a man that cannot meet up with his financial responsibilities will see himself as a failure and you know the ego of men; they will feel they are not in charge anymore and they can’t control their home anymore. They will become unnecessarily aggressive, violent and be prone to violating the rights of their wives and children. So, lower socioeconomic situation is another contributor to the violation of rights of women and children. Ignorance is also a factor, not everyone is aware of the existing laws that protect the interest of women and children. And that is why we will not relent in creating awareness of this, especially among the people at the grassroots. A lot of them don’t know the consequences of being violent with a woman, even being violent with their children. A case that was brought to our office involved a man who battered his wife because he suspected her of infidelity. And by the time we invited him, he was telling us that he had every right to chastise his wife because he had paid dowry on her. Can you imagine that? So this kind of person does not only understand the consequences of the offence he has committed; by the end of the day, the woman had to plead and she pleaded that we should not refer the matter to law enforcement agencies because in such cases, we make referrals to law enforcement agencies who have a wider mandate to handle such cases as it has become a criminal matter, so ignorance is also a major contributor of it.
Non-enforcement of law is another contributory factor. At the national level, there are so many laws that protect the interests of women and children. And a lot of states, including Oyo states, have also domesticated them into their laws. We have the Child Rights Act, Violence Against Persons Prohibition Acts, and there’s even child s*xual offences law in Oyo State. So how do we make all these laws effective? We can only make them effective if cases of violation of rights of women and children are reported to the appropriate authorities. If perpetrators are held accountable and made to face adequate punishments for the offences, the laws will be effective.
Cultural practices such as Female Genital Mutilation, widowhood practice, inheritance and child marriage are major factors in abuse and violation of rights. People wonder if there is still child marriage in this part of the country, yes, we received like three cases of such last year that we had to mediate in. Inadequate performance of the law enforcement agencies also aids violence because of the attitude of some of them towards investigating cases that concern crime, especially in violation of women’s rights such as rape, infliction of injuries or minor physical assaults on women. Their attitude towards getting evidence and getting themselves committed in the delivery of their work affects the victim in getting justice and the progress of proceedings of all these cases in court. So the incompetence of law enforcement agents is also part of it. Then I will also say that delay in delivering justice in our judiciary is also part of it. We all know that justice delayed can be termed as justice denied. It’s not everyone that has the patience to visit court for adjourned cases, causing some victims to decide to settle out of court because they will not have the time to be going to court to follow up on their cases. Aside the unwillingness of victims, the unwillingness of witnesses is also a factor. Societal pressure from family, religious leaders, community leaders and some influential personalities in the society to withdraw the case affects efforts to fight for justice and creates a deterrent.
