The Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Ikioye Orutugu, has decried the high rate of ill-treatment meted to some widows by families of their late husbands.
Mr Orutugu made this known on Sunday in Amawbia, Awka, during a “Human Rights Accountability Meeting.”
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The event was organised by the Humanitarian Cares Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, in collaboration with the police command in Anambra to sensitise residents of the state on their rights, especially widows.
The police commissioner said that abuse of the widows’ rights stems from the people’s culture, tradition and family values.
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“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 him, 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 commissioner of police over one year now, I have been able to get justice for many widows whose rights have been violated,” he said.
The commissioner urged husbands in the state to always write a will that would protect their wives and children in the case of death.
Mr 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 police commissioner, who said that bail was free, urged the people to report officers and men who demand money to bail a suspect.
Also speaking, Officer in Charge of the command’s legal department, Essien Edet, a chief superintendent of police, enjoined both widows and widowers to report violation of rights to the police, saying that everyone was protected under the law.
He said that the measure would help prevent and tackle crime in the society.
According to him, it is the duty of the police to enforce the law.
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Onyinye Udenze, a deputy superintendent of immigration, advised the state residents to report suspicious foreign nationals living among them, especially those without valid permit to stay in the country.
Some residents, who participated in the security summit, asked what should be done when there was abuse of human right in their communities.
Others asked whether bail was free and alleged that many foreign nationals were involved in serious crimes across the country.
Earlier, Augustine Ejiofor, the national coordinator, Humanitarian Cares Initiative, said the organisation provided legal services and support to victims of human rights abuses in the country.
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