Rape is a conscious process
of intimidation wherein perpetrators keep women and children especially, in a
state of constant fear. Rape devalues the victim. It is a crime which stigmatizes the emotions,
a crime of insult, oppression and revenge that needs to be punished because a
rapist is a criminal and all crimes and their beneficiaries must be punished.
Cases of sexual violence
have increased all over the world. The Stanford rape case involving a 20-year
old former Stanford University student who was sent to jail for sexually
assaulting an unconscious woman on the school campus is a case in point. The
judgment generated a lot of negative responses on social media and from the
public against the Judge mostly because the sentence – a mere 6months and 3
year probation – seemed like a slap on the wrist for the rapist.
In Nigeria as well, there
has been an increasing number of rape and sexual harassment cases on a keen
keel. A total number of 150 reported cases of sexual and physical abuse were
recorded in Lagos state for one year period as at April 27, 2016. Also the Lagos
State commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Lola Akande,
said the Ministry in the last one year treated about 589 cases ranging from
sexual abuse, physical abuse and child labour.
There was the case of a
52-year-old builder who confessed to having carnal knowledge of a 12-year old
girl in Suleja local government area of Niger state. As a matter of fact,
another 33-year old teacher of Government Girls Secondary School, Minna,
Abdullahi Shaba was remanded in prison Custody for allegedly raping a 16-year
old senior secondary student. Two teenage girls were violently raped to death
by a gang of young men in Bayelsa state. While this was going on, two other
cases of child abuse occurred in the state,
and this included the death of a 7-year
old girl after being raped and infected with HIV/AIDS. There was also a report
of a 15-year old girl who was gang raped in Ebonyi state on her way from a
wake-keep.
If nobody is alarmed at the
frequency of these occurrences, we are. They seem to have grown in frequency
maybe because our institutions are not addressing these crimes by dealing with
the perpetrators. There was a case of a 44-year old man from Ini local
government area of Akwa Ibom state who was alleged to have defiled his daughter
and actually confessed to have had sexual intercourse with her severally. What
then can we make of the man in Enugu who raped three of his children aged five,
seven and nine and another 10-year old girl who cried out after constant
defilement by her father for a period of 18months in Lagos state? What can we
say about that? Rape in Nigeria has also been festering in our universities. We
are not likely to easily forget the Cross River state university rape matter
between the Dean, faculty of Law, Prof. Cyril Ndifon and a 20-year old 400
level student; the part-time lecturer of the University of Lagos, Afeez Baruwa
who allegedly raped an 18-year old girl seeking admission to the university of
Lagos. Another case of rape involving a certain Dr. Mohammed Sani Idiagbon and
it took place at the department of English in
University of Ilorin.
Just recently, Kaduna State
Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, revealed that the 19 governors in the northern states
are set to review the Penal Code which will address the issue of rape and
penalties. He also said a bill to that effect is currently before the State
House of Assembly. We are gladdened by this but wish that the governor was not
merely reacting to the case of one Haruna Tukur who allegedly raped a five-year
old girl in Kaduna recently.
Sandra Eguagie, programme
officer and Rape Watch Coordinator, ANEEJ.
Source: The Nation
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"NO" to RAPE and SEXUAL ABUSE - Walk Against Rape Nigeria (WAR)!
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