Governance
Ornguga: Benue Steps Up SGBV, Human Trafficking Response
From Dooshima Terkura, Makurdi
The Benue State Government has commenced the review of obsolete laws and intensified efforts to strengthen the justice sector, including the prosecution of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) cases and the fight against human trafficking.
The State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Yangien Ornguga, disclosed this while interacting with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Makurdi.
Ornguga said the state had reviewed several laws that had become outdated, including the Child Rights Law, Penal Code, Gender-Based Violence Law, Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law, Education Laws and Local Government Laws.
He explained that the reviews were aimed at making the laws more responsive to current realities and addressing emerging challenges confronting residents of the state.
The commissioner also disclosed that his ministry had strengthened its collaboration with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to intensify the fight against human trafficking.
According to him, the ministry is prosecuting several SGBV cases and has established a desk at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps to address sexual violence and provide support to survivors.
He said the government had also cleared arrears owed judiciary workers, while the salaries of casual workers were increased from N5,000 to N20,000.
Ornguga added that discussions were ongoing on the possibility of converting the casual workers to regular government employees, noting that the government was also improving the working environment of its personnel through the construction of a new office complex.
On the financial challenges confronting the state, the commissioner disclosed that the government was currently dealing with numerous garnishee orders arising from outstanding obligations.
He said the development had put pressure on government resources and affected funds that could otherwise be deployed to projects and programmes aimed at improving the lives of citizens.
Ornguga, however, said the government was engaging lawyers and other affected parties to resolve the matter, including negotiating instalment payments in some cases.
He appealed to lawyers who had obtained garnishee orders against the government to show understanding, stressing that the state had several competing financial obligations.
The Attorney General also charged journalists to play a greater role in checking the spread of misinformation, particularly reports concerning government officials, court cases, judgments and other matters in the justice sector.
He expressed concern over what he described as the increasing tendency to circulate unverified information on social media, saying such reports could mislead members of the public.
“People like peddling fake news. People like telling lies against government. People like telling lies against government functionaries. It is your responsibility to counter this fake news,” he said.
Ornguga urged journalists to thoroughly investigate information before publication and educate the public on legal proceedings, adding that the media remained a critical watchdog of society.
“As watchdogs of the society, if you see something that is going wrong, you must stand up to correct that,” he said.
Photo: The State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and Public Order, Prof. Yangien Ornguga, flanked by members of the Correspondents’ Chapel and his management team.