Nasarawa State, Nigeria, has established a family court to address the high rate of abuses and violations involving women and children.
The state government has also signed the Rule/Practice Direction 2023 for the full commencement of the first family court practice in the country.
The state’s chief judge, Justice Aisha Bashir Aliyu, signed the Rules and Practice Direction 2023 in Lafia, the state capital, yesterday.
This development comes 17 years after the domestication of child rights law in the state.
According to reports, the Child Rights Act was passed by the federal government in 2003 and domesticated in Nasarawa in 2005.
However, the laws have not been implemented due to a lack of institutional framework to do so.
Speaking after signing the rules and practice direction 2023, the CJ said the state had become the first to implement the sitting of a family court in the country.
She expressed her delight, saying that women and children in the state now have succor, unlike before when there were no procedures and guidelines on how to implement child right laws.
The initiative was made possible as a result of the commitment and sacrifice of Dr Nawani Aboki, the director and chief executive of Centre for Women, Youth and Community Action (NACWYCA), a non-governmental organisation.
Aboki thanked the CJ for bringing the 17 years struggle to secure the rights of women and children in the state to an end.
He said that with the commencement of family courts, proceedings relating to the right, advancement, and welfare of the child under the Nasarawa State Child’s rights law 2005 are now taking effect.
The signing of this document marks the commencement of the family court in Nasarawa State.
