Anambra CP condemns abuse of widows, calls for cultural reforms

By Obinna Unaeze

The Commissioner of Police, Anambra Command, Ikioye Orutugu, has decried the high rate of ill-treatment meted to some widows by their families of their late husbands.

Orutugu made this known on Sunday in Amawbia, Awka, during a “Human Rights Accountability Meeting.”

The event was organised by the Humanitarian Cares Initiative, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), in collaboration with the Anambra Police Command to sensitise residents of the state on their rights, especially widows.

The CP said that abuse of the widows rights stems from the people’s culture, tradition and family values.

“In some families in Anambra, when a woman loses her husband, she becomes a subject of ridicule, it is bad under the Nigeria law.

“The way women suffer in Anambra when they lose their husbands is terrible.

“Some of the brothers and sisters in-laws only aim at inheriting their late brothers wives and property but don’t talk about how to maintain the children of the deceased,” he said.

He said that under the Nigeria law, a legally married woman has the right to her children and husband’s property.

According to her, as a widow, you have the right to your husband’s property, as long as you were legally married before his demise.

“Since I assumed duty here as the CP over one year now, I have been able to get justice for many widows whose rights have been violated,” he said.

The CP urged husbands in the state to always write a will that would protect their wives and children in the case of death.

Orutugu advised communities and families in the state to amend some cultures, traditions and family values to respect the country’s constitution which protects the rights of everybody, including widows.

He urged residents of the state to report human rights violation to the police, in order to prevent and tackle crime.

The CP, who said that bail was free, urged the people to report officers and men who demand money to bail a suspect.

( NAN)