The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) has decried the high rate of child abuses and defilement in the South-East geo-political zone of the country, saying that about 15 children in Enugu State alone were raped by their fathers between July and November, this year.
Chairperson of FIDA, Enugu State branch, Nkiru Ugwu-Nwabueze, stated this, on Thursday, during the opening of FIDA Week 2013 in Enugu.
Ugwu-Nwabueze, who expressed regret that the children were defiled by those they call uncles, brothers, advised parents to always give their female children sex education to enable them know some sensitive parts of the body.
According to her, among recent cases which FIDA swung into action to obtain justice was the defilement of a three-year-old girl by her biological father.
She disclosed that the evil father defiled his three-year-old child while changing her pampers, adding that the father, after committing the crime, claimed that his wife, who might have raised the alarm, was mad.
Ugwu-Nwabueze further averred that after investigations carried out by FIDA officials, it was discovered the suspect actually defiled her daughter and that his wife, whom he claimed was mad, only had minor challenges after birth.
She also disclosed that FIDA facilitated the arrest of a man who started defiling a girl when she was five years, adding that there was another case of a nine-year-old girl who was recently defiled by her uncle at Ezeagu, in Enugu State.
Earlier in her welcome address, the Chairperson of FIDA Week/20th Anniversary Planning Committee, Edith Okorie, had said that the theme of the week long event was very apt, saying when “you empower a woman, you have empowered a nation.”
In her paper entitled: ‘Women empowerment, its gains and challenges’ which was presented at the event, the Solicitor-General/Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Enugu, Mrs A. Onaga, had stated that President Goodluck Jonathan had gone a long way in giving effective representation to women in political and public office appointments.
President Jonathan’s administration, according to her, had scored high marks on the empowerment of women, adding that women now know that they could aspire to the highest office in this country.
The theme of this year’s women legal week, held at Filbon Hotel, Enugu, was entitled: ‘Women Empowerment and Sustainable Development with Emphasis on the Gains/Challenges’.