By Beatrice Gondyi
No fewer than five cases of rape and other gender-based violence are recorded daily in Magistrate Courts in the Bauchi state.

The Chief Registrar of High Court Bauchi, Barrister Emmanuel Sublim stated this at the opening ceremony of a one-day programme on Women, Peace and Security in Nigeria, organized by United Nations Women at the Command Guest House, Bauchi on Wednesday.

The Chief Registrar who lamented that most of the cases do not end up in convictions, said apart from cultural problems, some parents of the victims do refuse to make statements to corroborate some of the cases that come up in Court.

Sublim who decried that Gender-based cases are on the rise in Bauchi state and seem to be alarming noted that from the reports that are usually sent to the Magistrate Courts in Bauchi, five cases are recorded daily.

According to him, “the unfortunate thing is that the cases don’t end up in conviction. This is either that there are problems in the course of investigation or problems in the course of prosecution or problems when case files are sent to the Ministry of Justice for legal advice”.

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“Unfortunately, we don’t have anybody to put an eye on some of these things that are happening from the time arrests are made up to the time the accused persons are taken to Court”, Barrister Sublim added.

The Chief Registrar who expressed worry over the situation noted that the programme will help in sensitizing stakeholders and members of the public to see that gender-based violence is something that should not be swept under the carpet.

“We should try as much as possible to see that women are given due protection by our laws”, he said.

The Programme Coordinator with the United Nations (UN) Women, Peter Mancha, while delivering opening remarks, said that already 15 states including Bauchi have keyed into the implementation of the UN Women Programme and have gone ahead to launch the implementation plans.

According to him, the UN Women has been working with various partners including, Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN) and International Alert in the implementation process of the programme under the support of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

He said that the various States of Assembly in Nigeria have collaborated in the passing of the Child Rights Act and the Violence Against Person Prohibition (VAPP) laws.

Barrister Sublim said that the move will reduce the challenges facing women and children, particularly the girl child, if implemented properly.