The Secretary to Akwa Ibom State Government,Dr.Emmanuel Ekuwem has spoken of the resolve of the State Government to pay the entitlements of retired primary school teachers as soon as the on-going verification exercise was completed.
Dr. Ekuwem was speaking while playing host to the Executive members of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights(CDHR),Akwa Ibom State Branch who called on him in his Office at Government House,Uyo at the weekend.
He stated that immediately the verification Committee put in place by the State Government to weed out ghost retirees amongst the retired primary school teachers concludes its assignment, it will calculate the entitlements of the affected retirees and thereafter,segment as appropriate,the beneficiaries for payment.
Decrying the rising incidents of rape and gender-based crimes in the society,the State Chief Scribe who described rapists as cowards and irresponsible persons whose intent is to debase the dignity of womanhood and traumatize the minors,commended the judiciary in the State for sentencing perpetrators and violators of these heinous crimes to death or life imprisonment as penalty.
He lauded the anti-cultism policy of the present Administration that has laid to rest,intermittent cases of cult-related violence in public schools in the State.
On the CDHR proposed tour of all oil bearing communities in the State,Dr. Ekuwem advised the Human Rights body to collaborate with the Ministry of of Power and Petroleum Development for collation of authentic data to aid in their evaluation of the state of affairs in the oil bearing communities.
He thanked the leadership of the CDHR for the visit and promised to relay the their requests to the Governor for consideration.
Also speaking,the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice,Mr. Uko Udom,SAN,hinted that the Ministry under his watch is working on a proposal for creation of the Office of Public Defender by the State Government as applicable in Lagos State,to enable deprived and aggrieved persons who cannot afford legal representation in the law courts to avail themselves of such opportunity to register their grievances.
Mr.Udom thanked the leadership of the CDHR for choosing to partner the State Government on a number of issues of immense benefits to the generality of Akwa Ibom People.
Earlier,the State Chairman of the Human Rights group in the State,Comrade David Ekanem informed the SSG that they were in his Office to advise Government to resolve the persistent contentions with Labour over certain outstanding entitlements of some workers,including retired Primary school teachers and Next of kins immediately the verification Committee saddled with the responsibility concludes its assignment.
Comrade Ekanem described as worrisome,the rising spate of violent, sexually related crimes and rights abuse across the State and expressed the need to carry out periodic sensitisation and campaigns against all forms of abuse,particularly the trending incidents of cultism,rape,defilement and gender-based violence with a view to changing the attitudes and mindsets of violators of these crimes.
He noted that to achieve meaningful peace and sustainable development in the society,the social and economic rights of the people must be upheld and therefore,called on government at all levels to protect such rights by recognizing and restoring oil bearing status to the affected communities.
The CDHR Chairman announced that the body will before the end of this month,undertake a tour of oil bearing communities in the State to evaluate the
state of affairs in those communities for necessary action and sued for partnership in that direction.
He also requested for an audience with the Governor to discuss the logistics for the forthcoming National Human Rights conference billed to hold in the State in June,2021,among others.
Present during the Courtesy visit were the Permanent secretary and some Management Staff in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government.
