Nigeria recently launched its first sex offenders’ register as a vital step towards tackling reported cases of sexual abuse. The publicly accessible online register of people prosecuted for sexual violence since 2015 will allow public bodies and police authorities conduct background checks and identify repeat offenders. Daily Trust sought opinions of a few Nigerians on whether the sex offenders’ register is enough to curb sexual abuse.
Harira A Wakili, 29, Development worker, Kano
Considering how rape cases were handled in the past, perpetrators got away with their hideous crime. But sex offenders register will help in stopping future occurrences by shaming the rapists.
It’ll discourage the perpetrators and those intending to do so because they will be called out.
I see the register as a tool that will really help in preventing rampant rape cases in Nigeria. I also believe it will help victims to seek for justice, knowing how security agencies handled issues of rape carelessly in the past and sometimes misplaced records of rape cases.
The registry will help human rights defenders, governments, security agencies, and individuals to achieve their goal of ending sexual abuse.
Chief Nengi James, Chairman Civil Liberty Organization (CLO), Bayelsa State branch
As far as I’m concerned, and as a Civil Liberty Organization (CLO) member, the sex offenders’ register is not enough action by the government to check sex offences in the country; it’s just a starting point in collation of data.
However, data collation is good, all over the world, so that you can initiate the process and monitor the progress of your policy. It’s a good process, but that is not the law, there are punishments for rape and sexual violence abuses, and I want to say that the law must be pursued to its logical conclusion.
The data collection is only for naming and shaming, and for record purposes, to fulfill the need and to plan how this law ought to be taken care of. So, I think we should also enforce the law.
It is the right of those who have been abused to get justice. Given the stigmatization that follows sexual abuse, I think the issue of rape should attract a life jail for those who abuse/defile young women and men. More worrisome is the gay and lesbianism practices which have taken over our society; it has already infiltrated our offices.
So, the law should not be for only our lecturers and students, it should extend to the offices where men use their positions to abuse females working under them.
Aniekan Akpan, 24, Business Woman, Bayelsa State
How can sex offenders register be enough punishment for sex offenders? Do you know the physical trauma and stigmatization faced by victims of sexual abuses? There should be stiffer penalties for the offenders, to serve as a deterrent to others.
Just look at what is happening in our tertiary institutions, where randy lecturers unnecessarily delay female students in school because they refused to yield to their sexual demands. Most employers demand for sex before employment, and so on.
The register is good, though, for reference purposes, naming and shaming but the policy makers should put out stiffer penalties such as life jail or even death sentence for the culprits.
Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, 49, Human Rights Attorney, Lagos
The sex offenders register is not enough to address the problem of sexual and gender based violence, we need other complimentary actions. While the register will help to provide a data base of sex offenders’ name, shame offenders and prevent them from being integrated into the society, it will also address impunity that surrounds sexual and gender based violence. However, it will work better with effective institutions that promptly arrest, prosecute and convict offenders.
Rukayya Abdullahadi, 28, Gender Activist, Kano
Sex offenders register is essential towards curbing the prevalence of rape cases across the country.
If the register will be publicly published and transparent enough to be accessible to everyone, then, the sex offender will have identification and nowhere to hide.
Rape victims were traditionally stigmatized by relatives, authorities, and the public, while the perpetrators move about freely without facing the justice they deserve or prosecution.
This new system, if properly handled, will deter intending offenders.
Anthonia Ojenagbon, 41, Host of Tonia Bruised But Not Broken support group for sexual violence survivors, Lagos
The sex offenders register is a good step in the right direction, but we still need to prosecute and jail alleged rapist to serve as a deterrent to others. Rape is a criminal offence and the penalty is jail.
Faruk Hussein, Lawyer, Abuja
Sexual violence should not be condoled under any guise. Like every offence described under our laws, sexual offenders should be penalised according to the law. The call for name shaming will not do much in stopping sexual offence. People will not stop committing offence that is innate in human nature, for instance, the most serious offence in the world right now is terrorism and murder while the penality is death still in today’s world we still have such menace going on.
However, I commend all efforts put in place to make sure sexual violence is stopped; the fact still remains that such gross misconduct will still persist. But government think eradication of sexual violence or gender-based violence will come through name shaming. If we should look at it in another angle, judgments can be weak at times and may require going to higher court before actual justice can be attain so if a lower court slmajena sentence for sexual office and a higher court finds it not correct that will put a stain in the character of the person wrongly charged.
We are in the age of consensual sex what I found at a point a party decide to pull off from what they have been and the other rejects so will that also be characterize as sexual assault. All criminals are sent to correction service to turn a new leaf while blending into the society so that leaves for a rethink of the of the Justice system.
Dayo Olakitan Adesulu, 51, Media practitioner, Lagos
The sex offenders register alone can’t solve the issue of rape. There should be stiff penalty for sex offenders. If the punishment for rapists is stiff, it will serve as a deterrent to others.
Dr. Dange Sule Emmanel, Medical doctor, Kaduna
There is no measure taken that is too much or too little to end the scourge of sexual assault, especially being done to minors. So, I think putting down a sex offenders name in a registry is a way to shame them. When the name is written for the whole world to see, it would serve as a deterrent to others.
The registry is also a vital tool in curbing the menace of sexual assault. Presently, a lot of offenders have been sent to jail because once an offender is caught and the doctors certify that there is an evidence of penetration, he is sent to jail and such act is not a bailable offence.
I have worked on a couple of cases where I am practicing. I find it so disheartening to know that some victims of these acts are minors; sometimes you even lose them. Why would anyone be so heartless to a fellow human being? So, I think any major action put in place to serve as a deterrent is welcome.
