Ortom initiates bill to protect widows from harmful practices

Samuel Ortom, the governor of Benue, has initiated a bill seeking to establish a commission to protect widows against harmful practices.

Speaking about the decision during the executive council meeting, the governor said the law is aimed at prohibiting norms and practices that negatively impact widows upon the death of their husbands.

Widows in the state are usually subjected to harsh circumstances after the death of their husbands which include being banished from a late husband’s home, forced to marry a relation of the deceased husband, and generally likened to a property of the deceased to be inherited by his relations.

When the bill is assented to, it will give the commission the power and responsibility to support, protect and build the capacity of widows in the state, whereby they can own their property and inherit the assets of their deceased husbands.

Michael Gusa, the attorney general of the state, said the proposed law affirms Ortom’s proactive disposition of initiating policies and programmes for the welfare and safety of his people.

“When (if) passed by the Benue state house of assembly, the widows protection law would bring to an end one of the age-long negative practices among the people and become a point of reference and emulation in other parts of the country,” he said.