The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has said that the Senate will continue to do all within its power to ensure that alleged sexual abuse and violence against Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) at camps in the North East and across the country are not covered up.
Saraki, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on New Media, Olu Onemola, said this while receiving the Amnesty International (AI) 2017/18 Report on ‘The State of the World’s Human Rights’ and the organisation’s report on women who survived Boko Haram but were later maltreated, from its Country Director, Mrs. Osai Ojigho, in Abuja.
He stated that the country being an important part of the comity of nations, it must continue to lead by example by doing the right things.
โBy getting it right, we must be able to accept where these issues exist and work with partners like yourselves to be able to establish the facts,” Saraki said.
“We have already set up a panel on your IDP report. By doing this, we can establish where sanctions need to be meted out.”
He added: โYou have our assurance that nothing will be covered up. Not just for the purpose of discipline but for the purpose of preventing reoccurrence. By doing this, we can help to ensure that people will change in their approach.
โOur people are already going through a lot of hardship in the IDP camps, they do not need this. We must stand and be there for them. In this regard, I am very keen to see the committee work very closely with you to resolve this โ so that the administration of justice is achieved and people will get a fair hearing.โ
Earlier, the Country Director of AI, Mrs. Ojigho, said that the visit was meant to commend the Senate for setting up a panel to investigate the allegations contained in the report.
