- Gender violence between couples can’t be resolved the way Gov. Ortom did
To most Nigerians, the greatest contradiction to the UN 16-day campaign for an end to gender-based violence that ended officially on December 10 was the public display of a seeming ‘reconciliation’ of Mr. Pius Angbo, a Channels TV reporter and his medical doctor wife, Dr. Ifeyinwa Angbo, barely 24 hours after the wife’s complaint video went viral on the social media.
The wife had narrated, complete with a bruised face, how her husband had continually abused her in their six-year marriage. The media display of the governor and his wife’s intervention inadvertently sent the wrong message about the governor’s pursuit of marital peace and reconciliation.
Barely a year ago, the governor signed the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPPA) law which prohibits all forms of violence against persons in private and public lives, provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment of offenders, and for the purpose connected therewith. Governor Ortom is also a member of the Nigerian Governors Forum that had declared zero tolerance for domestic violence.
While we note the two issues involved in this very tragic case -the cultural and legal issues – we expect that the governor would have recognised his leadership role in the situation and ought to have taken a more constructive approach in marrying the two issues. Peace amongst feuding spouses is necessary and commendable. However, the precipitate action of the governor, in tow with his executive council members, somewhat comes across as executive permissiveness in lieu of the legal processes given the law in Benue State currently.
The essence of laws in any society is to maintain order because it is virtually the leash on human excesses. To have speedily intervened amidst klieg lights sends the wrong signal and fits into the global narrative that impunity thrives in Nigeria due to official permissiveness and the abuse of due processes. In other climes, Mr. Angbo would duly be prosecuted for felony and not be given a pat on the back by the governor of his state who told him to go and live in peace with his victim-wife. The wife’s narrative was not about an accident. She said it had gone on for six years, even during her pregnancies, and in this case post-natal period. Again, the governor ought to have instructed the relevant agencies to work with the victim and her young children in terms of provision of shelter, therapies and counselling. Many lives are involved in this drama and the governor ought to know this.
To underscore the effect of the governor’s action, whether he was invited to intervene or volunteered to do so, barely 24 hours after his ‘reconciliation’, a wife, in the same Benue State set her husband and their one-room apartment on fire and ran away; the man is now fighting for his life. It is not impossible that the wife was emboldened by the governor’s action, or in a weird move wants to get the media attention and the official pat on the back, seeing the precedent in view.
We commend the attempt at keeping the cultural idea of intervening in marital issues but we also know that culturally, laws are not signed and the democracy that brought the governor and his executive council members is not a purely cultural system of governance.
Domestic violence is an ill-wind that blows no one any good. Mere public display and governor-assisted reconciliation cannot be a panacea to such a complex human ill. It has been proved by experts that it is a very complex issue and takes time and deliberate efforts by both parties to be sorted.
Therapies and counselling must be strengthened by governments to prevent or handle cases of gender violence reported. It is equally worrisome that the agencies of government have not moved to handle that particular issue. The wrong message is being sent to both men and women about domestic violence that has led to the death of many. The world is watching Nigeria.
