About 473 women yesterday graduated from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Women Rehabilitation Centre, Sabon-Lugbe Abuja.
The graduands are the second batch to graduate from the centre, which was established in 2011, in the wake of the ban against street prostitution in the FCT.
In her address at the graduation ceremony, the secretary, FCT Social Development Secretariat, Mrs. Blessing Onuh, explained that 137 out of the number were repentant commercial sex workers, while the rest were vulnerable women in the FCT, among them single mothers and widows.
She recalled that the centre had trained and graduated about 39 ladies in the first batch of the programme and added that progress reports received from them so far were encouraging.
In his remarks, the chairman of the occasion, Senator Smart Adeyemi commended the secretariat for what it was doing and encouraged the graduands to put the training and kits given to them to good use.
Adeyemi, who is also the chairman of the senate committee on FCT further stated that as a mark of support for the social services the secretariat was rendering, the committee had reviewed its 2012 budget proposal upwards, to enable it do more in the fiscal year.
On his part, the chairman of the House of Representatives committee on the FCT, Hon. Emmanuel Jime, urged the girls to put the training to good use and to in turn be employers of labour, stressing that anything short of this would be a disappoinhtment to the society.
The graduands who were trained in hair dressing, computer appreciation, fashion designing, catering, beads and hats making and events management were given kits relevant to their training and N100,000 cash to enable them set up their businesses.