Battery: HURIWA begs police to detain Anambra LG chair

 Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, a civil rights organization, urged the Anambra State Police Command on Friday to detain suspended Transition Committee Chairman of Nnewi North Local Government Area, Mbazulike Iloka, for allegedly assaulting his wife. In addition to the LG leader' suspension, the organization demanded that the state government assure his swift arrest and prosecution. In a statement on Friday, the national coordinator for HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, charged the governor of Anambra with making a scapegoat out of the 2017 Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, which criminalized all forms of violence against people while providing victims with protection and legal redress. The controversial passing of IIoka's wife, Chidiebere, last Sunday, only a few days after he was sworn in as chairman of the Nnewi North LGA TC, was met with uproar. After serving her husband's breakfast, the dead reportedly slumped and died, but neighbors suspected Iloka of killing his wife because he supposedly had a history of beating her.

IIoka was then suspended by the Anambra State Government pending "investigation and justice." The state government's suspension of Mbazulike Iloka, however, is insufficient, according to HURIWA's Onwubiko. The immediate arrest, investigation, and prosecution of this alleged murderer must be mandated by Governor Chukwuma Soludo. Anything less than this is excessive leniency. The violence against women and children in homes, churches, workplaces, markets, parking lots, and even on commercial buses is well-known in the city of Anambra. By publicly humiliating the LG chief while adhering to the letter of the law, the governor must issue a stern message to the aggressors. An autopsy must be performed right away, and the results cannot be in doubt. There cannot be any deception.

"Recall that Osinachi Nwachukwu, a prominent gospel singer from Imo State who was also from the South-East, passed away in the early years of 2022 amid controversy when her husband, Peter Nwachukwu, allegedly beat her, according to the victim's sisters and children. Iloka must be tried in order to effectively prevent future wife-batterers, just as Peter is today. "Anambra must also enforce the VAPPA Act and prosecute perpetrators with its components, going beyond merely domesticating the law. Anambra must do its share to lower national statistics on sexual and gender-based violence, which the National Human Rights Commission estimated at 1.7 million incidences in 2021 alone even if many incidents went unreported.

#trending #anambra #battery #hariwa