The Alliance for Preservation of Democracy, on Sunday, raised the alarm over what it described as a dangerous crossroad, which erodes the values of reprieve, justice, and faith in the system.

At a press conference in Abuja, Lemmy Ughegbe of Make A Difference Initiative (MAD), who spoke on behalf of the coalition, observed that the judiciary is the arm of government that ordinarily should stand above the vagaries of politics and compromise.  ……. CONTINUE READING

A human rights and good governance advocacy group, Make A Difference Initiative (MAD), has applauded Justice Sybil Nwaka for imposing a 60-year jail term on a pedophile, Adegboyea Adekan, who raped a two-year-old girl.

Justice Nwaka of the Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Unit imposed the historic sentence after finding Mr Adenekan guilty of child defilement.

In a statement Friday, the Communication and Advocacy Director of MAD, Lemmy Ughegbe, said, ………… CONTINUE READING

A human rights and good governance advocacy group, Make A Difference Initiative (MAD), has accused the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) of levity in handling allegations of molestation and sexual abuse of female students in the FCT School for the Blind brought against two teachers.

In a statement Thursday, the Communication and Advocacy Director of MAD, Lemmy Ughegbe, said the issues of sexual abuse and molestation of children and the vulnerable ought to be tacked with more urgency and openness than the FCTA has done.

“The abuse of children and the vulnerable in our society has become too rampant. It is even more worrisome when the abuse is being perpetrated in a school which should be their safe haven”, Mr Ughegbe said………. CONTINUE READING

TWENTY-three out of the 36 states of the federation are yet to domesticate the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, five years after the Act was signed into law.

THE VAPP Act is a law that guarantees protection of the rights of victims of all forms of sexual and gender-based violence in the country.

Fifteen out of these 23 states, representing 65 percent, are Northern states, six, representing 26 percent are in the Eastern region, while one is a South-western state, according to data collected by TechHer

TechHer is a civil society organization that provides a platform for technology knowledge exchange amongst women.

The states are; Sokoto,Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe, Borno, Zamfara, Kano, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Niger, Nassarawa and Taraba.

Others are Kwara, Kogi, Ondo, Delta, Imo, Abia, Rivers, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom.

Only 14 states have domesticated the Act since it was enacted five years ago.

They are Kaduna, Plateau, FCT, Benue, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ogun, Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Cross River…….. CONTINUE READING

Tobi Soniyi in Abuja

A human rights organization, Make A Difference (MAD), has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for demonstrating goodwill in cleaning up Ogoni land which has suffered an unprecedented amount of degradation……  CONTINUE READING

A human rights and good governance advocacy group, Make A Difference, MAD has called on the Inspector-General of Police to declare one Livinus Elem wanted for his suspected involvement in the gang rape and murder of an undergraduate of University of Benin, Vera Uwaila Omozuwa.

In a statement issued by its Communications and Advocacy Director, Lemmy Ughegbe, MAD said that “by his own free will statement on his Facebook page, Livinus Elem has admitted that he is fully aware of the acts that led to the rape and murder of Miss Vera Uwaila Omozuwa.”

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