TheCable

A gender and rights advocacy group, Men Against Rape Foundation (MARF), says Pauline Tallen, minister of women affairs, should avoid exposing Osinachi Nwachukwu’s children to the public.

Osinachi, the late gospel singer, is alleged to have been a victim of domestic violence.

The minister of women affairs had said Peter Nwachukwu, husband of the deceased, will be prosecuted and justice will be served if he is found to be complicit.

At several instances, the minister has spoken about Osinachi’s alleged experience, and recently, the husband of the late gospel singer was paraded before the children during a meeting with the inspector-general of police (IGP).

In a statement on Sunday, Lemmy Ughegbe, executive director, MARF, said Tallen should focus on the mental health of the children and protect them from further trauma.

“Despite how traumatised the kids are, Tallen and all those around her, rather than get the children completely away from the radar of the public and away from all of these further traumatising activities, soak them in, apparently, for the optics,” the statement reads.

“For a minister who is well-travelled and exposed, she can’t feign ignorance of the effect of parading their father before them. It is a lack of care for the kids that she has demonstrated.

“As a Child and Gender Rights Advocate, I condemn the continuing traumatisation of those kids and urge Madam Minister to make the welfare and psychosocial need of the children a priority, even as we call for a thorough investigation into the allegations of domestic violence brought against  Osinachi’s husband, Peter Nwachukwu. That is what justice will mean for Osinachi if we could hear her speak to us.

“It is, therefore, incumbent on Madam Minister and relevant agencies to excuse the children from the scene and provide the needed psychosocial support for them, which is mandated by the provisions of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) 2015.”