The National President of the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Dr. Mininim Oseji submitted a letter calling for the establishment of a National Task Force
on Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls occuring through Ritual Activities in Nigeria, with the list of names of those who signed the letter, to the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, Her Excellency Dame Pauline Tallen, at the Opening Ceremony of the 61st Annual General Conference & Annual Delegates’ Meeting of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) which took place in Jos, Plateau State of Nigeria today Thursday 29th April 2021.
MWAN commenced the online call for the Establishment of the National Task Force on 6th February 2021 as part of her commemoration of International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. The link for signing the letter to that effect is:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScGx2ptXKlnmIa8siwe1JXW5w3ygFwPmBjIrA9D3u5Q4HI94Q/viewform?usp=sf_link.
The letter submitted to the Honourable Minister included the names of 253 persons who had signed in response to the call, but by the time of filing this report, the number had risen to 355.
It is a well known fact that ritualists are behind several acts of Violence Against Women and Girls ranging from sexual abuse of minors to mutilation of the genitals of females.
MWAN sought to draw attention to this clandestine but evil culture of getting rich, obtaining power or curing ailments through rituals, that has been a root cause of many incidents of Violence Against Women and Girls in our country, especially as a lot of our laws do not outline penalties for these ritualists making prosecution very hard.
Unwanton desire for wealth without working makes some people susceptible to ritual activities which may involve hypnotizing clients to commit senseless crimes. Ritual activities are difficult to control because a lot of people in sensitive positions are involved.
In order to fish out who these ritualistists are and make them them face the law of the land, MWAN in the letter urged the Federal Government to establish a National Task Force on Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls occuring through Ritual Activities in Nigeria with branches in all States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory pending when appropriate laws are enacted to proffer a sustainable solution to this menace. This Task Force should be headed by the Minister of Women Affairs or her representative, with members drawn from the Judiciary, Police Force and MWAN.
The Honourable Minister for Women Affairs who was the Chairman of the Opening Ceremony had in her opening remarks expressed delight at the large turnout of female doctors at the NMA event.
The NMA President, Prof. (Dr.) Innocent Ujah, FNMA, FNAmed, mni was one of the the dignatories who witnessed the activity.