The incidence of rape and sexual abuse has become rampant in several parts of Nigeria in recent time. It was revealed that over 350 cases of rape and sexual abuse were recorded in Adamawa State between May and October 2020.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development in Adamawa State, Lami Ahmed, had at the launch of SMARTRR, a technological-driven solution that allows users of mobile phones to report and refer cases of rape and other gender-based violence in their community in Yola, decried the frequency of rape cases in the state and other parts of the country.
The commissioner further lamented the culture of silence over rape cases and other sexual violence, which she attributed to the recent surge in rape cases in the state.
Lami Ahmed said that the state has used the new technology, SMARTRR, to detect about 150 rape cases in the state, noting that concerned service providers have followed-up the cases.
The commissioner acknowledged the youth in the state, Samuel Dirug, who discovered the innovation, that has encouraged confidential reporting and referral of nearly half of the over 350 recorded cases of rape between May and October in the state.
The inventor, Dirug had disclosed that 180 active cases of sexual abuse had been reported with the aid of the app, while 27 of the cases were successfully closed with the assistance of partners in Adamawa since May.
The commissioner had lamented: “With over 350 cases, one is only left to wonder what measures are to be taken to address this issue before it makes an animal kingdom out of our society; that is if it has not created one already.”