Onyebuchi Onwuchekwa, Owerri
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Lady Nkechinyere Ugwu UNJP has called on authorities to begin to invoke the relevant portions of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law to begin to curtail prevalence of emotional, domestic, psychological and physical violence in both private and public spaces in the state.
Recall that a few days ago, the High Court sitting at Owerri convicted one Pastor Desmond Eke, after he was found guilty of raping his 25-year-old church member, whom he was delivering from the forces of darkness.
In Suit No How/32C/2022; State vs. Pastor Desmond Eke, Hon. Justice T.N. Nzeukwu convicted the accused after the victim and the prosecutors had proved their case beyond reasonable doubt.
This case resonates as the first success story of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law of Imo State, 2021, as this goes down in history as the first recorded successful conviction under this law. Ugwu expressed happiness that the coming of the VAPP Law has unbundled the burden of delayed justice, which is often experienced in regular courts.
Commissioner Ugwu applauded the Imo First Lady, Barr Mrs Chioma Uzodinma, CSOs, Imo House of Assembly members and the Ministry staff, for their supportive role in ensuring the passage and subsequent assent by the Governor in 2021. She called on all and sundry to begin to popularize the implementation of the VAPP Law