72 women organizations, activists, scholars, civil society and human rights organisations decry alleged harassment of commercial sex workers by police

By Ishaya Ibrahim

A group of 72 women organizations, activists, scholars, civil society and human rights organisations in Nigeria have strongly condemned what they called the recent raids, public humiliation, assault and sexual harassment of over 100 women in Abuja by the agents of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Joint Task Team.

In a petition titled “Cease and desist, stop harassment of women in Nigeria,” the groups which which included ActionAid Nigeria, ACTS Generation, African Women Empowerment and Childcare Initiative (AWECI), African Women’s Initiative, Alliances for Africa, Amnesty International Nigeria, Arise Nigerian Woman Foundation, among others called on the government to release the women immediately and unconditionally.

Calling the detentions unlawful and discriminatory, the groups threatened legal action if nothing was done by the government to redress the situation.

Below is a full text of the statement issues on Tuesday:

CEASE AND DESIST! STOP HARASSMENT OF WOMEN IN NIGERIA

We the undersigned Women’s Organizations, Activists, Scholars, Civil Society and Human Rights Organisations in Nigeria, strongly condemn the recent raids, public humiliation, assault and sexual harassment of over 100 women in Abuja by the agents of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Joint Task Team, which is comprised of the Department of Development Control, Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and the Social Development Secretariat (SDS).

These agents raided the “Caramelo night club” and other clubs on two different occasions within one week in Abuja (17th and 26th April). During the raids, they arrested several women, who reported that they had been sexually assaulted and sexually harassed, some who were raped.

The assaults left injuries in the vaginas of some of the arrested women and many were psychologically traumatised by the experience.

It appears that the FCTA joint task team had unilaterally, and without respect for human rights, chose to contain any “environmental nuisance” the night club allegedly was causing to target and attack young women in the club, particularly dancers and strippers. The agents appeared to be specifically targeting women – while no male guests were arrested or harassed.

In fact, several female guests in and around the night club were also targeted and harassed. Women were brutally dragged out by male officers who beat them, and some women were stripped naked. The violence inflicted on these women was vicious and targeted. They suffered this treatment because they were women and these officers were confident that they can get away with it.

We were further shocked by the reports that a mobile court at the old parade ground in Area 10, Abuja on the afternoon of 29th April 2019, convicted many of these women in unfair trials and some of them were sentenced to prison or fined for an offence that is unknown to law.

Nigeria is signatory to many international and regional human rights treaties including the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), which protects the human rights of women to dignity, equality, liberty and freedom from violence.

The Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act applicable in the FCT also prohibits all forms of violence against all persons irrespective of gender, and regardless of whether it was committed in private or in public, while stipulating punishments for offenders and remedies for victims.

The 1999 Nigerian Constitution equally provides for fundamental human rights including the rights to dignity (section 34); right to fair hearing (section 36), and right to freedom from discrimination (section 42).

In October 2017, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in the Dorothy Njemanze & 3 Ors v. the Federal Republic of Nigeria, pronounced that the act of targeting women and harassing them by the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and other state security agents constituted gender based discriminatory treatment, torture, cruel inhuman and degrading treatment. The Court also recognised that Nigeria has a duty to investigate, discipline and prosecute persons responsible for violating these human rights therefore, the failure or refusal to do so in the cases reported to it amounted to a further violation of the State’s international obligations

.These raids by the FCT Joint Task Force are in contravention of the laws and treaties which Nigeria is bound to uphold. We therefore demand, that the federal authorities particularly the Police and the FCT Minister, investigate all the allegations of abuse, ill-treatment and violence including rape and other forms of sexual assaults, to which these women were subjected, and where the agents are found culpable, they must be brought to justice before a competent court that meets international human rights standards without delay.

The government should also provide psychosocial support and compensation for the victims.

We call on the government to account for the wellbeing and bodily integrity of all the women for the period they have been held in detention by the state.

We call on the government to release the women immediately and unconditionally from this unlawful and discriminatory detention and from the proposed “forced” three months arbitrary rehabilitation at the FCT rehabilitation centre in Lugbe, Abuja, which would further violate these
women’s rights to equality, dignity and liberty.

The continued harassment of women by the FCT joint task force should stop immediately as it constitutes gender discrimination, a violation of human rights, is unlawful, unconstitutional and carried out with total disregard for the rule of law.

The undersigned will not hesitate to take legal actions to challenge the constitutionality of the raids, targeted against women, if the state does not take immediate action to stop these harassments.

The undersigned:

1. ActionAid Nigeria
2. ACTS Generation
3. Adaobi Egboka
4. African Women Empowerment and Childcare Initiative (AWECI)
5. African Women’s Initiative
6. Alliances for Africa
7. Amnesty International Nigeria
8. Arise Nigerian Woman Foundation
9. Ayisha Osori
10. Betty Abah
11. Bridget Osakwe
12. CedarSeed Foundation
13. CEE-HOPE Nigeria
14. Centre for Nonviolence and Gender Advocacy in Nigeria
15. Change Managers International Network
16. Chidi Odinkalu
17. CISLAC
18. CLEEN Foundation
19. Country Associates Network (CANET)
20. Deaf Women Aloud Initiative
21. Deaf Women Association of Nigeria Abuja Nigeria
22. Devatop Centre For AFRICA Development
23. Development in Practice Gender and Entrepreneurial Initiative (DIPGEI)
24. Dorothy Njemanze
25. Dorothy Njemanze Foundation
26. Echoes of Women in Africa Initiatives (ECOWA)
27. Education as a Vaccine
28. Equity Advocates
29. FAME Foundation
30. FIDA Nigeria
31. Gender Advocacy for Justice Initiative
32. Gender and Environmental Risk Reduction Initiative (GERI)
33. Girl Child Africa
34. Girls’ Power Initiative
35. Haly Hope Foundation
36. HEIR Women Development
37. Ier Jonathan-Ichaver
38. Jenny Chisom
39. Josephine Effah Chukwuma
40. Juliana Itohan Oyegun
41. Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP)
42. Lillian Okenwa
43. Martin Obono
44. Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome
45. Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN)
46. Nigerian Feminist Forum (NFF)
47. Olobiri Foundation
48. Ovie Brume Foundation
49. Partners West Africa Nigeria
50. Partnership for Justice
51. Peyi Soyinka-Airewele
52. Politishean
53. Project Alert on Violence Against Women
54. Sesor Empowerment Foundation
55. Society of Media in Public Health
56. Spaces for Change
57. State of the Union Coalition (SOTU)
58. Transparency International Nigeria
59. Vision Spring Initiatives
60. Widows Development Organisation
61. Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC)
62. Women Aid Collective (WACOL)
63. Women Environmental Programme
64. Women for Peace and Gender Equality Initiative
65. Women Foundation Nigeria
66. Women In Politics Forum (WIPF)
67. Women Information Network (WINET)
68. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Nigeria
69. Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA)
70. Women’s Rights and Health Project
71. Youth Hub Africa
72. Zero Corruption Coalition (ZCC)