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… Senators Mull Emergency Centres, Increased Funding To Check Kidnapping, Insurgency
By Paul Williams, Abuja
A bill for an act to prevent, prohibit and redress sexual harassment of students in tertiary institutions has scaled through second reading on the floor of the Senate.
The bill which was sponsored by the Senate deputy president, Ovie Omo-Agege, with the support of one hundred and five others, proposes 14-year jail term, with a minimum of 5 years without an option of fine for educators found guilty of sexual offences.
Leading the debate on the general principles of the bill, Senator Omo-Agege said it is enacted to protect, prevent and redress complaints of sexual harassment in educational institutions in the country.
In her contribution, Senator Uche Ekwunife, representing Anambra Central, called on the lawmakers not to limit the punishments prescribed by the bill to education sector alone, but should embrace holistically sexual abuse wherever in the society as it affects girls and women.
The Senate president, Ahmad Lawan, who supported Senator Ekwunife’s position, added that sexual harassment occurs in other sectors and must be addressed in order to protect females in Nigeria.
Our correspondent reports that after deliberating on the matter, the Senate directed its committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal matters to x-ray the bill and report back in two weeks.
In another development, the Senate president Ahmad Lawan has said neither foreigners nor Nigerians will invest in the nation’s economy if insecurity is not tackled.
Lawan, who stated this after a point of order on the matter of national importance was raised by Senator Olalekan Mustapha, advocated for more budgetary allocation to security agencies to enable them check the menace of banditry, kidnapping, insurgency and other criminal activities in the country.
He harped on the need to establish national emergency centres across the country to it easier to check criminal activities.
Earlier, Senator Mustapha raised a point of order on the increasing rate of kidnapping in the riverine areas of Ogun State. Senator Amosun while supporting the motion appealed for the legislative intervention on the matter to be extended to Ikorodu, Sagamu and other parts of the country.
Our correspondent reports that the upper chamber suggested that the office of the national security adviser deploy sophisticated drones to the affected areas for proper surveillance.
