- Just Adetoun, a human rights activist, has expressed her views on Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s sexual harassment claim against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
- The lawmaker from Kogi Central was suspended from the Senate after she accused Akpabio of targeting her due to her rejection of his sexual advances.
- The controversy erupted when female Senators accused Natasha of violating Senate rules.
Human rights advocate Just Adetoun has shared her perspective on the situation involving Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who has made allegations of sexual harassment against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
It is important to note that the representative for Kogi Central was suspended from the Senate following her claims that Akpabio targeted her after she rejected his sexual advances.
This incident has sparked significant debate, with individuals taking various positions on the issue. Some female Senators have accused Natasha of violating Senate protocols.
In response to these developments, Just Adetoun criticized those women who did not extend their support to their colleague.
She emphasized that Natasha’s suspension occurred without any thorough investigation, highlighting that the Senate President, who is the accused party, effectively served as the judge in his own case.
Just Adetoun called upon women to publicly support one another, asserting that Natasha Akpoti’s situation is a matter that impacts all women. She urged that no individual, regardless of their perceived power, should be allowed to undermine a woman’s strength and dedication as both a woman and a mother in society.
“This is not about Natasha, this is about Natasha’s gender, and she is a woman like me. Something I preach every time, is the spirit of togetherness. When something affects one woman, one child, one female, it affects everyone of us. If they are calling a woman a prostitute, they are not calling just one person. And as a woman when you hear them call a woman a prostitute, shame is seen on our faces.
If people in high positions will suspend a female on the grounds that she accused a Senate President of sexual harassment, what they are trying to do is drain the energy of every woman out there to learn to keep quiet in the face of adversity. To learn to keep quiet because of the shame. We would have preferred if the Senate President steps aside as a man who claims to be on the side of females, but he has shamelessly turned the house into a kiss and turn as the wife of the Senate President has publicly kissed and shown compassion to her husband.”
She further said, “I don’t think you can be a judge in your own case. The Senate has proven to us to be like a cult. It would have been better if Natasha was properly investigated and found lying and punished. Then that would be a shame on womanhood. That you want to use your gender to intimidate or subdue or oppress a fellow man.”
“I’ve seen a lot of our adult women, coming on the media space. If you all claim that you passed through that institution and you’ve passed that stage of sexual harassment what I would have expected from our female adult sis to summon Natasha, explain to her that that is an institution of authority where she is not only representing Kogi Central but all women where they are just four and she is one of them.
But Natasha is standing alone now, fighting the feminine battle. No, she is not standing alone in this. We are waving our support for a female who has claimed that she was sexually harassed and we will appreciate if they push further to investigate her, rather than try to intimidate her. Whether they have personal issues, is none of our interest. It is said that the Senate President and Natasha have travelled three times on official duties afterward. The timing of what Natasha said may not be right, the way she said what she said may not be right, the platform Natasha said what she said may not be right, but Natasha is a female and no woman will come out that she has been sexually harassed and we will keep quiet.”
