Lagos Assembly charges police, others on rape

The Lagos State House of Assembly yesterday urged police and other relevant government agencies to enforce the existing laws on rape to address rampant cases of sexual abuses.
This followed a motion by Mrs Mojisola Meiranda (APC-Apapa I) under matters of urgent public importance on the increasing cases of rape and other sexual abuses in the society.
The House also urged the State Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Commissioner of Police, and Minister of Youths, Sports and Social Development to address the issue.
The lawmakers urged relevant agencies to investigate specifically the recent gang-raping of a 13-year-old girl in Owode-Ibese, Ikorodu area of the state.
Meiranda, explaining the motion, decried the incidence of sexual abuses and criminal cases, describing the situation as alarming and disheartening.
The lawmaker said she read a publication on the alleged gang-raping of a 13-year-old girl, adding that the victim was carrying three months pregnancy.
According to her, the incident, which happened at Owode-Ibese in Ikorodu area of the state, was condemnable and needed attention.
“So, parents and guardians should be watchful of the kind of people they leave their children and ward with, either both male and female.
“Children and wards should also be educated on how to raise alarm when they sense danger,’’ she said.
The Chairman, House Committee on Science and Technology, Mr Nurudeen Solaja-Saka, said that the culprits, who allegedly carried out the act in Ibese, should be brought to book.
Solaja-Saka (APC-Ikorodu II) said that policemen and traditional rulers in the area were already assisting in the investigation of the matter.
The Chairman, House Committee on Accounts (State), Mr Moshood Oshun, decried stigmatisation attached to rape victims in our society.
Oshun said efforts should be made to build confidence in the families of the victims so that they would not be stigmatised.
He said there was need to make use of sex register and publicise rape offenders to enable people who reside with them to know the kind of persons they were living with. (NAN)