Following recent reports about some officials
sexually harassing female internally displaced persons, Governor Kashim
Shettima has revealed his plans to write letters requesting the Inspector
General of Police, the Director General of the Department of State Security,
the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP and the
National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA to deploy female and male
undercover detectives to all IDP camps in Borno State to spy on culprits and
bring them to book.
Speaking at a courtesy call by a delegation from the National University Commission on tour ongoing infrastructure at the proposed Borno State University, which held at the Government House in Maiduguri on Tuesday, Governor Shettima said deployment of undercover agents will be a permanent measure in addition to the urgent need for investigation of the report by the Human Rights Watch released days ago which said some female IDPs interviewed had alleged they were sexually harassed by some security officials, to the extent of getting them pregnant.
"Today, as Governor of
Borno State, there is no issue that gives me headache like the unfortunate
bye-products of IDP camps. Our citizens were violently sent out of their houses
and communities, it is their fundamental rights to be provided alternative
accommodation with their food and health cater for. Sadly and very sadly
indeed, the IDP camps have become avenues that horrible stories of sexual
slavery, prostitution rings, drug peddling and other social vices are emanating
from. Only yesterday (Monday) there was a report by a Human Rights group
alleging incidences of sexual abuses by some Federal and State workers in some
of the IDP camps. This is highly condemnable
"Apart from investigating these claims and arresting culprits
which is absolutely necessary, I am going to write letters to the Inspector
General of Police, the Director General of the DSS, the National Drugs Law
Enforcement Agency and may be the National Agency for the Prohibition of
Trafficking in Persons, requesting all of them to deploy female and male undercover
detectives to all our camps to permanently spy on anyone involved in sexual
harassment, any form of prostitution, drugs trafficking, possible child
trafficking and even the allegations of diversion of food items meant for
IDP’s.
"I would want these detectives to report their findings to
their security establishments and whoever is found wanting should be picked up
without notifying me so long as there is verifiable evidence to prosecute him
or her. Ladies and gentlemen, I am tired of applying the element of persuasion
in handling the issues of IDP’s, we need to wield the big stick. The problem
with managing the IDP camp is that you are dealing with a population of two or
more local government areas in one location and you cannot imprison them by restricting
or stopping them from leaving the IDP camp in the day time. When a female IDP
leaves the camp in the morning, you cannot be in control of where she goes and
who she sees. If she leaves the camp and returns the following day, she may
claim to have visited a family member and little can be done.
"I strongly believe there are cases of sexual harassment but
some of the women may be consenting to sexual advances largely due to extreme
poverty and loss of value system. We have to instill sanity into the IDP camps
and I hope we will not end up having human rights activists telling us we
cannot deploy undercover detectives into IDP camps due to one form of rights
violation or the other. Desperate situations call for desperate measures.
Sexual harassment of female IDPs is a desperate situation. None of us here is
beyond becoming an IDP if Allah decrees and none of us would fold arms if his
or her daughter is in position to be sexually harassed, so we must act
now" the Governor said.
Shettima explained that the history of Borno
State has painted negative by the Boko Haram insurgency noting that the State
has gotten tired of counting deaths and destruction.
"The Borno Story that
has been painted very badly by the Boko Haram. We are even tired of counting
the number of deaths, number of those of injured, value of private institutions
and private property destroyed and the huge number of persons internally
displaced" the Governor said.
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