The fight against rape seems to have received a boost recently with Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State having signed into law the amended Penal Code Law 2020.
The law provides for stiff penalties for rape of a child including death, surgical castration for male convicts, and bilateral salpingectomy for female rapists.
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The governor explaining the provision of the law, said whoever commits rape of a child below the age of 14 years upon conviction will be punished with surgical castration and death, adding that, whoever has sexual intercourse with a male child below the age of 14 years shall be punished with surgical castration and death.
This is even as the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Pauline Tallen advocated death penalty for rape and related offences in the country.
The increasing incidences of rape of girls and women are fast becoming a daily occurrence in Nigeria.
The worse is that some perpetrators’ have find minors as the worthy victims to carry out their wicked act on.
The recently launched Sex Offenders Register to tackle issues of rape in Nigeria, revealed that two million Nigerian girls and women were raped annually hence, the need for stiffer punitive measures against the act.
According to statistics, one in every four girls would have experienced at least one form of sexual assault or the other by the time she is 18 years old.
This rate is alarming, which makes rape an epidemic in Nigeria.
It also revealed that, about three in 10 Nigerians (26 per cent) disclosed that they know someone, who has been raped in the past and the rape victims were particularly minors and young adults aged between 1–15 years (72 per cent) and 16–25 years (24per cent) respectively.
The founder, HEIR Women Development, Anuli Aniebo, who describes rape in Nigeria as a pandemic, said the country has sexualised and suppressed women and girls to the extent that most rape cases go unreported.
“It is disgusting, disheartening, ridiculous, disappointing and a shame to us as a nation.
“In 2018, Nigeria was ranked as the ninth most dangerous country to be a woman/girl and we can clearly see it is true by what is happening now.
“The constant rape and murder of women is a tragedy and a disgrace.”
While so many culprits have disclosed that they carried out the act for ritual purposes, others said it was the work ok of Devil, but the lack law has left so many of these evil doers roaming the streets free.
As the fight to bring perpetrators to book rages, individuals, Civil Society Organisations and Government at all levels are seeking for stiffer measures for rapists to address the issue.
The Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria, Mrs Ene Obi, during a walk on Enough is Enough, Stand to End Rape to the Force Headquarters in Abuja with the Dorothy Njemanze Foundation and other group said, the call for action was necessitated by a recent increase in reported cases of rape and killings of women and girls, especially between May and June 2020.
“From January to date, 80 cases of violence against women and girls have been reported in the media, and this past week has served as a deadly reminder that Nigerian women and girls are not safe,” she said.
A Senior Clinical Psychologist, Mr Samuel Jinadu said, rape of minor is a dysfunctional issue in men that engages in it.
He explained that out of poor judgment and superstition, some individuals may be under the belief that raping a virgin may cure them of ailments and address some life challenges, so, rather than going for older girls they go for very young children believing they will be virgins.
He said this was a dysfunctional thought process which is unfounded.
“The influence of social media escalates as a result of loose content that are not controlled.
“Many men view porn site thereby making them aroused and looking for girls and women to ease,” he said
According to him, without strict punitive measures, rapist will not desist from the act.
He advised that men have a role to play in safeguarding the lives of women, girls and children around them and not necessarily their own children.
“Men have to correct the error when they see it and also monitor what is going on in their environments and report issues when they notice it.”
The Nigeria lawmakers are not left out in the fight, as recently, the National Assembly members joined the movement against rape scourge by debating for several hours at plenary the penalty to be put in place for rapists.
The Senate President Dr. Ahmad Lawan while contributing to a motion, condemned the increasing cases of rape and brutality against the girl child in Nigeria, saying, “Having in place stiffer penalties in Nigeria’s criminal and penal code will serve as deterrence to perpetrators involved in the act.”
Although some states are yet to come out with the term of punishment for rapists but Kano and Kaduna state have domesticated laws against rape offenders.
However, the Minister of state for FCT, Dr Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu opposed the option of a death penalty, advocating instead that offenders be castrated, adding that they are also pushing for serious institutional framework that will ensure that justice is done.
“It is not enough to just jail such person, definitely punishment like castration will do.
“When we kill them, they die and not remember anything, therefore they should be castrated and allowed to roam the streets inactive,” she said.
She revealed that the Ministry of FCT is working in consent with security agencies and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP) to push for an institutional framework that would ensure justice is served.
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