The terrible behavior of officials of Abuja Environmental
Protection Board is now becoming a sign of worry to residents of the federal capital
territory..According to an investigation carried out by us,the staff of the agency
now engage in unwholesome behavior. which is not only dehumanizing but has made
a mockery of the work of the agency..It has been reported that the officials
now pick young girls who hawk around the city, take them to nearby bushes for
sex and thereafter get them released..Same goes with ladies of the night who they
pick across the city and engage in all manner of sex..This behavior has
prompted an a non governmental organization YOUTH HUB Africa to write a
petition to the minister of the territory Senator Bala Mohammed..In the
petition copied us and signed by most of the NGOs,they called on the minister
to check the activities of the agency before it gets out of hand.(See attached
petition)..CKN
Sign the Petition: harassment of young women by the Abuja
Environmental Protection Board
Outraged by the harassment of women in Abuja,
Nigeria’s capital, a coalition of concerned individuals/organisations humbly
requesting your help and support in signing a letter to the Honourable
Minister of the federal Capital Territory to stop the barbaric act.
The Abuja Environmental Protection
Board had in the last couple of months picked up young women in various parts
of Abuja, under the guise of weeding the streets of prostitutes. These women
are subjected to harrowing conditions, harassed and detained without
protecting their fundamental human rights. Quite a number of innocent women
have fallen victim of these maltreatment by a Government agency
Please find the letter below. If
you’re interested in signing this letter, please drop a comment with your name,
name of organisation and email (where applicable)
As soon as we have 100 signatures,
the letter would be physically delivered to the office of the Honourable
minister of the Federal capital Territory and 5 other Government agencies to
include: The Minister for Youth Development, the National Human rights
Commission, The Minister for Women Affairs, The Attorney General of the
Federation and the Permanent Secretary, Federal Capital Development
Authority.
Senator Bala Mohammed
Honurable Minister of FCT
No. 1 Kapital Road
Area 11, Garki
Abuja, FCT
Dear Sir,
HARASSMENT OF YOUNG WOMEN BY THE
ABUJA ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION BOARD
Honourable Minister, our attention
has been drawn to complaints that young women in Abuja are now constantly
harassed on the streets of Abuja by your operatives from the Abuja
Environmental Protection Board (AEPB). These agents, usually reinforced by a
detachment of heavily armed Police and other security personnel,
violate innocent women’s dignity and rights under the guise of curbing the
menace of prostitution on the streets of our beloved city. While we abhor
prostitution and condemn it as an immoral activity not be tolerated amongst
youths, we worry that the current strategy of the AEPB has been to arrest every
woman and young girl they spot at certain hours and in specific locations
without any evidence or proof that they have been engaged in prostitution.
Thereafter, the young women are subjected to detention and insulting treatment
by the AEPB while waiting for family and friends to bail them from detention.
Honourable Minister, in this day and
age when all stakeholders are working hard to improve gender equality at all
levels we find the agency’s activities, which subject women to undue harassment
and harrowing conditions, contradictory and retrogressive. If the goal of the
AEPB patrol is really to curb prostitution (a responsibility that is not a part
of its mandate), it would be useful for the agency to widely publish the laws
guiding its actions to ensure that innocent youths are aware of the law and are
not mistaken as prostitutes.
We call on you to use your good
office to look into the activities of the AEPB. It is rather ironic that the
agency responsible for policing the environment has not had reasons to
investigate those indiscriminately polluting the environment nor has it
effectively mobilised resources to clean up our dirty neighbourhoods. Rather
the agency spends its time picking up young girls on the street and tagging
them as prostitutes.
In fighting prostitutions, we want to
highlight the much touted ‘Swedish Example’ as one instructive to our present
plight. With this regulation it is not criminal to sell sex, but it is criminal
to purchase sexual favours. The strategy here is to discourage the patrons of
the prostitutes — who number much more than the prostitutes themselves. If such
a strategy were implemented in Nigeria, we think that the men (and women) who
patronise prostitutes would be discouraged (or prosecuted if they persisted) and
gradually, the ‘sex industry’ in Abuja and elsewhere in Nigeria would come to a
standstill, and prostitutes would be forced to find alternative employment.
While we support the effort of your administration to give Nigeria a befitting
national capital that is secure, beautiful and a tourist delight, we would
advise that this quest to root out sex workers must be pursued within the
framework of the rule of law and without compromising the freedoms of movement
and association of all Abuja residents. We would be grateful if a decisive
action is taken on the issues highlighted in this letter and we are open to
engage in follow up discussions with the Honourable Minister and your
officials.
Should reports of blatant violations
of human rights persists on the streets of Abuja, we fear that we might seek
legal action. We appreciate your audience.
Once again, please accept the
assurances of our highest esteem and warm regards.
SIGNED
Rotimi Olawale
Co-founder
Youthhubafrica
Deshola Komolafe
Executive Director
Save Our future
Abuja
Rosanwo Babatunde
Global African Dialogue (GADO)
Anwo-Ade Babatunde
Cobweb Solutions
Ewajesu Asala
Country Director
Africa Women and Youth Organisation
Samson Itodo
Head, Research, Policy and Advocacy,
Youth Action Initiative Africa
Esther Essiet
Founder
After School Peer Mentoring Project
Bisola Edun
Creative Director
Taé
Chime Asonye
#Thisgeneration
Charles Omofomwan
Founder
Noble Missions for Change Initiative
(NMI)
Damilola Ade
Founder
Sprout Consulting
damiiiilolo@gmail.com
Wale Salami
Coordinator
Y-count!
Ajani Olumide Faith
Director, Advocacy
Blood Drive Initiative
Ukwo Joy Michael
Senior Programs Manager
MMSHF, Abuja
Akinbo A. A. Cornerstone
Project Director
Saving Lives Nigeria (SALIN)
Omowunmi Kuye
Gender and Violence officer
Super Network for Adolescents and
Youths of Africa (SUNAYA)
‘Gbenga Sesan
Executive Director
Paradigm Initiative Nigeria
Wahab Isiaka
God Bless Nigeria Project
Abuja
Abigail Odogun
Administrator
Nigerian Women Resource Centre
Akure, Ondo state
Ajoyo Sowande
proNG
ajsowande@gmail.com
Babajide Aroyewun
Damaroy Foundation
Lagos
Joycee Awojoodu
Solar and Alternative Resources
(SOAR)
Abuja
Iyinoluwa O. Aremu
sustain Nigeria Research Project
abuja
Bella Anne C. Ndubuisi
Centre for Public Policy and Research
Abuja
Ifeanyi Kelly Orazulike
International Centre on Advocacy on
Rights to Health
Chukwu Mary
Actors Guild of Nigeria
Amara Nwankpa
Light Up Nigeria
lightupnigeria.org
Abimbola Ojo
Olayiwola Joshua Aduroja
Paul A. Ben-Niboro
Roseline A.
Joy Mbalaso
Marvellous chikezie
Agbai Emmanuel Agbai
This agency should have been scraped for long. This agency sometime in 2009 was operating an illegal prison. An investigation was carried out by FRCN reporter. The story won the broadcast(radio) of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative reporting. Here is the link on the story - http://www.wscij.org/winning_works2008.php
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