Tony Okafor, Awka
Sequel to frequent cases of domestic violence in the state, the Anambra state government has set up a family court to handle such matters, exclusively.
According to the state’s Commissioner for Women Affairs, Ify Obinabo, the family court which was newly inaugurated in the had 10 pending cases, with nine suspects remanded while one was granted bail.
Stating that Anambra had the lowest cases of domestic violence, the commissioner said the state had recorded five cases of deaths occasioned by domestic violence. She did not disclose the sexes of the victims.
Recall that a few days ago, the state governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, suspended the Chairman of Nnewi North Local Government Area ,Mbazulike Iloka, over the death of his( Iloka’s) wife in circumstances suspected to be domestic violence.
Obinabo while speaking to a delegation of a women group, the United Business Women And Farmers Association, in her office on Monday, said the government of Prof Charles Soludo had zero- tolerance for domestic violence.
She said said, ” The governor has zero- tolerance for demestic violence let alone killing one’s spouse; and we as at ministry will continue to ensure that act is put under check.”
“We have 10 cases of domestic violence in our family court and out of that number nine suspects were remanded at the awaiting trial section while one was granted bail.
“But this trend is not in Anambra state alone; our state has one of the lowest cases of death through domestic violence and this recent one makes it the fifth case.
Speaking, the National President of the group, Mrs Nkiru Nwagbo said “We call on you to help us in building capacity for our members through our various training programmes.
“We have well over 8000 members in Anambra state who believe in our capacity to mitigate their problems through empowerment programmes.
Nwagbo commended the governor of Anambra State, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, for taking a drastic action against the transition committee chairman of Nnewi LGA who was being accused of killing his wife.
Nwagbo said, “We also wish to extend our hands of friendship to you in mounting public enlightenment campaigns in the promotion of the ideals of your ministry.”
