Cross River Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Edema Irom, has explained that the Orange Band floated at the Calabar Carnival was to draw attention to Gender-Based Violence and human rights abuses perpetrated in the State.
The commissioner who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar on Monday – yesterday, December 30 – said the band, a non-competing one, was used to explore the global stage offered by the Carnival Calabar.
“Those of us within the human rights and campaigns against gender-based violence corridor needed a global venue to amplify our clarion calls for collective action against these various dehumanising treatments.
“These evils are being perpetrated by men under the guise of culture and traditions.
“Carnival Calabar came in handy as an ample avenue to galvanise the needed support against these vices to achieve optimum impact,” she explained.
The commissioner, however, assured that the present administration in Cross River State is committed to tackling GBV and other dehumanising practices against women and children under whatever guise.
Among such dehumanizing practices is the menace of witchcraft branding, which has sent innocent children to the streets while adults are often set ablaze, arising from the nefarious activities of ill-informed religious leaders, Irom agonized.
“We are poised to checkmate such dastardly acts in our state. Good enough, through collaborative efforts, we have relevant laws meant to address these anomalies.
“We are therefore using this platform to drum support for the implementation of the various laws and to reiterate our resolve as a government to provide a safe environment for every child, every law-abiding citizen to live their dreams, actualise their potentials, irrespective of background,” she said.
Orange band Calabar Carnival
Similarly, human rights lawyer, James Ibor said the carnival had proven to be a vital platform for disseminating human rights messages, given the mammoth crowd of spectators and millions of television viewers watching across the globe.
While applauding the robust collaboration among critical stakeholders, Ibor noted that such disposition is imperative to guarantee optimum results, going forward.
The band members displayed various banners with inscriptions condemning rape, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, harassment, molestation, GBV as well as other forms of human rights abuses.
