Judge urges Lagos to establish victim protection agency

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A Lagos judge has urged the state government to establish its Victim Assistance and Witness Protection Agency to protect victims of crime, especially child Read More:…

A Lagos State High Court judge, Justice Rahman Oshodi, has urged the state government to immediately constitute the Lagos State Victim Assistance and Witness Protection Agency, warning that the failure to establish the body has left victims of crime, particularly children subjected to sexual abuse, without adequate protection.

Justice Oshodi made the call in his judgment discharging and acquitting a 54-year-old man, Taiwo Oyelabi, who was charged with raping his 21-year-old biological daughter.

The judge said the agency, provided for under the Lagos State Victim Assistance and Witness Protection Law enacted by the Ninth Assembly and assented to by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in 2024, was necessary to give practical effect to the rights and protections guaranteed to victims and witnesses.

Justice Oshodi made the call in his judgment in the case of the State of Lagos v. Adio Serious, where he drew attention to the need for effective institutional support for victims and witnesses of crime.

The law provides for assistance, support and compensation for victims, as well as protection for witnesses against intimidation, reprisals and other forms of harm.

Justice Oshodi’s call came against the background of what he described as a disturbing pattern of alleged sexual abuse within families, which he said had repeatedly come before his court.

However, the judge observed that although the law had been enacted, the agency established to implement its provisions had yet to be constituted, leaving the intended protections largely unavailable in practice.

In the case before him, marked ID/8787C/2019, the defendant was accused of raping his daughter in November 2017 at their residence on Community Road, Obadore, Igando, Lagos.

“The evidence shows that the defendant had sexual intercourse with his daughter. It does not show that he raped her,” Justice Oshodi held.

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