At least 340 spouses have reportedly been assaulted by their wives in the past year, according to the Lagos State Government.
This was revealed in the Lagos Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency’s (DSVA) quarterly reports by Mrs. Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, the executive secretary.
She claimed that within the past year, there has also been a rise in the number of male reports of domestic abuse.
340 men reported incidents of domestic abuse committed against them by their spouses between September 2022 and July 2023, according to Vivour-Adeniyi.
Concerned about the pattern, she stated that the organization “is currently handling the cases to find an amicable resolution.”
In the meantime, the Lagos State Government has started monitoring and evaluating each of the state’s six education districts through the Joint Task Force on Implementation of the Executive Order on Safeguarding and Child Protection.
Top-level representatives from the Lagos State Safety Commission, State Universal Basic Education Board, Child Protection Network, Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, and Office of Education Quality Assurance make up the Joint Task Force members.
Over 200 schools in Education Districts 4 and 5 have participated in the monitoring exercise, which started on October 31, 2023, at the Lagos City College, Sabo-Yaba, according to Vivour-Adeniyi. Additionally, over 90 schools have been visited to determine and measure compliance in those districts.
“At the schools, on-the-spot assessments were carried out to verify the effective execution of the policy and pinpoint areas of strength and improvement,” the spokesperson said.
“Determining the extent of Executive Order adoption and implementation throughout all Six Education Districts in Lagos State is the ultimate goal of the monitoring exercise,” Vivour-Adeniyi stated.
Speaking at the engagement, Mr. Kamaldeen Akodu, a representative of the Office of Education Quality Assurance, went into detail on the necessity for schools to implement safety precautions in order to provide a secure learning environment.
Similarly, Mr. Jubril Yakub, a representative of the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, explained the purpose of the exercise to school administrators, emphasizing that it is corrective rather than punitive.
Yakub went on to discuss the reporting practices that schools should implement.
Mrs. Ajoke Oshokoya, a representative of the Lagos State Safety Commission, emphasized the significance of implementing safety measures in educational institutions.
She said that in order to guarantee the general safety and well-being of students, employees, and visitors, certain security measures, such as having security people, safety equipment, conducting safety training, and having well-maintained facilities for a hazard-free environment, were expected to be put in place.
Remember that the Executive Order (NO.E0/AA08 of 2016) creating the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy was ratified by the state government in December of that year.
All child-centered institutions must formally adopt this policy in order to guarantee that the rights of the children under their care are sufficiently and properly protected, and to establish precise procedures for responding to reports and disclosures of abuse.
