Mr Samuel Ogeh, Chairman, Rivers House of Assembly Committee on Judiciary, has promised that the state would adopt the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act (2015).

Ogeh said this in Port Harcourt on Wednesday at the stakeholders’ workshop on adoption of violence against person prohibition Act (2015) in Rivers.

Assembly Mace

He said there was a similar bill pending in the legislature which he noted had passed through first reading.

Ogeh, who represents Emohua State Constituency, said “all laws made by Rivers House of Assembly are for the good of the people.”

According to him, the legislature would not disappoint the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA)  pushing for its adoption.

“A similar bill on the Act is already in the House,” he said.

He said the public should participate in public hearings, being organised by the House, saying that it made the process of law-making faster.

The lawmaker said it was not true that the law (Act) was to protect women and girl child alone, rather to protect the vulnerable in society.

In her, contribution, Mrs Florence Fiberisima, Permanent Secretary and Solicitor-General in the Ministry of Justice said the ministry was already at the “work” on adoption of the law.

She, however, noted that some laws in the state were not too different from the one FIDA was pushing for adoption.

The permanent secretary cited the law prohibiting harmful traditional practices against widows, as an example.

Also contributing, Mrs Florence Itamunoala, former FIDA Rivers chairman criticised the fines and prison terms, saying some were too much, while others not enough.

She added that imprisonment was not a good solution to the problem between husband and wife, adding that it could further damage such relationships and families.

Mr Don Anjamele, a senior prison official said imprisonment had not solved problem and decried prison congestion in the nation.

In her opening remarks, Mrs Tonia Osademe, FIDA Chairman, said the Act was signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan, in 2015.

She said some states were already enjoying the benefits of the Act, while Rivers was yet to adopt it.