The Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), has disclosed that the state Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team responded to 3,831 cases of domestic violence between April 2020 and April 2021.
Onigbanjo said this on Wednesday while giving an account of the performance of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice at the 2021 Ministerial Press Briefing at Alausa, Ikeja.
The attorney-general said of the 3,831 reported cases of domestic violence, 2,629 involved adults, while 1,202 involved children.
“A call centre number, 08000333333, has been launched to respond to reports of gender-based violence and the state government will also be providing compensation and empowerment for survivors,” Onigbanjo said.
Onigbanjo added that the Public Advisory Centre of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice between April 2020 and April 2021, rendered advice on 47,586 cases ranging from tenancy, pension claims, domestic violence to health matters and illegal demolition of properties.
He also stated that the Citizen Mediation Centre within a year resolved 9,686 cases out of 12,358.
“Recently, the CMC Ojokoro-Ijaiye, on April 14, 2021, successfully restored a family back into their apartment after being locked out by the aggrieved landlord for 18 days.
“The Directorate of Citizens Rights resolved 1,640 petitions covering landlord-tenant and employer-employee matters and matrimonial disputes,” Onigbanjo said.
The attorney-general mentioned that a total of N51m had been recovered on behalf of complainants.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government through the Special Taskforce on Land Grabbing has within one year restored the land of 159 citizens forcefully taken by land grabbers.
Onigbanjo confirmed this on Wednesday during the press briefing.
According to him, the purpose of the special task force is to further enlighten the citizenry on the menace of land grabbing, and hold a series of stakeholder sensitisation programmes in six divisions of the state.
“The first was held on April 22, 2021, at Ikorodu, being one of the major areas in the state where the atrocities of land grabbers are prevalent,” the attorney-general said.
Throwing some light on other areas, Onigbanjo said the Office of the Public Offender attended to 50 cases concerning the rescue of abused children and defended 410 inmates in a year.
He noted that during the #EndSARS crisis of October 2020, the OPD through its services helped secure the release of 198 protesters.
“During this period, the courts delivered 121 judgments and rulings, 82 in favor of OPD clients and 39 against them.
“The OPD also recovered N67m on behalf of indigent persons,” Onigbanjo added
