Adamu, who gave an update on cases of sexual violence reported in parts of the country, disclosed this while speaking with journalists after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday.

The IGP noted that within five months, the Police have recorded 717 rape incidents, arrested 799 rape suspects.

According to him, 631 cases have been conclusively investigated and charged to court while 52 cases are still under investigation.

Adamu gave the briefing alongside the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, and the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed.

According to the President in his Democracy Day speech to the nations on Friday, he said: “I am particularly upset at recent incidents of rape, especially of very young girls,”

Buhari also revealed that he has directed the police to ensure perpetrators of rape and other sexual violence were arrested and prosecuted accordingly.

The President added, “The Police are pursuing these cases with a view to bringing perpetrators of these heinous crimes to swift justice.

“Nigerian women remain a particular treasure to this nation and for this reason, this administration has continued to give them a place of pride in the affairs of our country.”

Meanwhile, the President assured that his administration is determined to fight gender-based violence through the instrumentality of the law and awareness creation.

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who disclosed this in a statement made available to DAILY POST on Thursday, condemned the prevalent and rising incidence of rape and sexual assault in the country.

Malami said incidents of rape cases in the country have increased dramatically in the last few weeks, resulting in the brutal murder of some victims, to which the development has sparked outrage in Nigeria and abroad.

The minister noted the Federal Ministry of Justice has identified with calls for national response against rape and sexual assault in the country.

Malami said in fulfillment of the Ministry’s mandate and its determination to urgently address this heinous crime, his office “will immediately inaugurate an Inter-Ministerial Gender-Based Violence Management Committee”.

He said: “The committee will include skilled officers drawn from Federal Ministry of Justice, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Federal Ministry of Health, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, National Human Rights Commission, Nigerian Legal Aid Council, Nigeria Police Force Civil Society Organisations, among others.”

The committee will be charged with proffering a synchronized approach to address all forms of violence against women and children in the country.

The Chairman of the NGF, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, disclosed this in a statement released to the journalist on Thursday, after the forum’s 10th COVID-19 teleconference meeting held on Wednesday.

The Forum reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring that offenders face the full weight of the law.

They also instructed each governor to create sex offenders register in their states.

Governors agreed to, “Declare a State of Emergency on Sexual and Gender-based Violence. Governors strongly condemned all forms of violence against women and children and committed to ensuring that offenders face the maximum weight of the law;

“Call on State Governors that have not already domesticated relevant gender-based protection laws to domesticate the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, the Child Rights Act and the updated Penal Code to increase protection for women and children and ensure speedy investigation and prosecution of perpetrators in addition to creating a sex offenders register in each State to name and shame,” the statement revealed.