New Telegraph

Rape: Nigeria’s new ravaging monster

From time immemorial, women have been perceived as weaker vessel. Thus, many believe women are oppressed and subjugated under oppressive cultures in most African societies. Oluwatosin Omoniyi writes

There have been outrages against incessant rape incidences recently. Although, rape cases have not dwindled in reports and statistics, the major problem is the seemly weak laws regarding the sexual offence Perpetrators who have become emboldened by the lack of effective laws to mete out punishments to them.

There have been several ongoing protests and outrages against defilement and sexual assaults upon women across Nigeria. Unfortunately, many of sexual assault especially defilement are not brought to the fore front. Some don’t want their issues mentioned for fear of intimidation and stigmatisation within their environments. And some found the perfect excuse of hunger and poverty as responsible factor. One of such is an 11-year-old girl identified simply as Taiwo who offered herself to Ayoola Sunday, 29, a community cobbler, in Bankun area of Ogun State. The duo was caught at a corner in Sunday’s shop when they were committing the atrocity by a customer who came to collect the pair of shoe he gave Sunday in the morning. According to the customer who raised alarm, Sunday had assured him that the pair of shoe would be ready upon his return from work by evening. He said he pressed his car horn but no response but the shop was opened, hence he got down from his car to see if Sunday was asleep. Lo and behold! Sunday was seen on top of the young girl having sex with her. He raised alarm and passersby trooped into the shop beating Sunday, almost lynching him. The young girl at that point cried out that her mother encouraged her to go meet Sunday to do it, so that he would give them money to feed for that day and or at least two days.

Also, penultimate week ago and still ongoing, there has been outrage among Nigerians for the sudden surge of reported rape cases. The outrage escalated for the brutal murder of Uwaila Vera Omozuwa who was raped in a church, in Benin City, Edo State. Uwa as she was fondly called was found dead, lying half-naked in a pool of blood at the church where she had been a member of the choir for many years, according to a church official. Omozuwa who was described as kind and intelligent was said to usually go to that church on weekdays to study and to avoid distractions from her siblings at home.
A few days before Uwa’s murder, a 16-year-old Tina Ezekwe was shot and killed by a policeman at a bus stop near her home, Iyana- Oworo, Lagos.

An 18-year-old girl, simply identified as Jennifer, was also allegedly gang raped by five boys reported to be her friends in Kaduna state. It was gathered that the incident occurred some weeks back in Narayi, a small community in Kaduna south local government area. The boys were said to have carried out the action on the teenager after giving her a liquid content said to be a mixture of alcohol and drugs to drink.
Barakat Bello was another younger lady raped and murdered. The 19-year-old lady, was said to be gang raped and murdered in Ibadan, Oyo State. Her sister found her lifeless body behind their home.

AN eleven-year-old girl in Adeta area, Ilorin, Kwara State was allegedly gang raped by teenage boys simply identified as Wasiu and Ade . It was gathered that the victim, a primary five pupil of a public primary school in Adeta area, went to beg for money to buy food from the suspected rapists, but was reportedly lured into their rented apartment till the following day on the pretext of acceding to her demand. She was however lucky to be alive.
Also in Kwara, an Ilorin Magistrates’ Court on Thursday remanded three men, Mutiu Adebola, Gbenga Olusayo and John Samuel, accused of gang-raping a 13-year-old girl in correctional service custody. The defendants are facing trial on a four-count charge of criminal conspiracy, procuring of minor girl, rape and gross indecency.
However, the hashtag #JusticeforBarakat, Uwa, Tina is trending on social media platform Twitter, including an online petition signed by thousands and a Twitter hashtag #WeAreTired
Many Nigerian women point to a legal system they say makes it hard to convict suspected rapists and blames women when they are victims of sexual assault.
According to results of a survey published by NOIPolls in July 2019 suggested that up to one in every three girls living in Nigeria could have experienced at least one form of sexual assault by the time they reach 25.
Also, recent laws have broadened the scope under which sexual offences can be penalised in Nigeria, making it easier to try suspects.
“Before now the part of the Nigerian constitution that deals with rape was in the criminal code and meant that cases had to be tried within two months or they would be ineligible to be heard in a court, but that is no longer the case,” Stephanie Ekpebulu, from a coalition of lawyers that does pro bono work with rape victims, said.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) joined its voice to those strongly condemning the current surge in cases of rape, sexual violence and other forms of violence.
According to Mr Ayuba Wabba, NLC President, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, “we are alarmed that our age-long culture of respect for women is being torn into shreds by criminals who believe that the female body is theirs to seize, ravish and devour at will without consequences.
“The recent rape and killing of Ms. Uwaila Omozuwa, a 22-year old 100 level student of University of Benin, Edo State on Wednesday 27th May, 2020 is cruel. This is in addition to the long list of Nigerian women and girls who have had their body privacy and their lives desecrated and destroyed by rapists.
“It is more horrifying that the perpetrators of this heinous crime no longer have respect for any physical, social and religious boundaries,” he said.
Wabba said that many girls and women have been raped and sometimes killed in their parent’s houses, husbands’ homes, workplaces, especially house helps, school hostels, in the open field, and in forlorn places.
He added that the message rapists are transmitting is that our girls and women are not safe anywhere. What an impetus! Such audacity!!
He further noted that on April 27, 18-year old girl Jennifer was gang raped by five men in Narayi, Kaduna State.
“As is norm in these parts, the family was threatened to keep hush over the case but for the intervention of human rights activists in Kaduna who blew the lid on the matter,” he said.
He also noted that, not long ago, an eleven-year old girl and a thirteen-year old girl were gang raped in Ilorin, Kwara State.
He added that, as if the life of girls and women are the cheapest commodities in our part of the world. “On 28th May, a seventeen-year old girl, Tina Ezekwe was gruesomely felled by police bullets during a supposed enforcement of the lockdown curfew at Iyana Oworo part of Lagos metropolis, at a bus stop near her home,”he said.
The NLC president said according to a national survey sponsored by the United Nations Women (UNWomen) in 2014, one in four women in Nigeria had experienced violence during childhood.
He noted that this is with about 70 per cent of the affected girls and women reporting that it happened more than once. Wabba added that out of the number of affected women, only 5 per cent sought help and only 3.5 per cent received any help such as medical assistance and counselling.
“Rape is a terribly heinous crime. It is a crime against the body and the soul. It leaves an eternal scar on the spirit of its victims.
“It is pertinent to underscore the point that even men could be raped. Congress believes that it is high time the rape epidemic was uprooted in Nigeria.
“We also call on the National Assembly to expedite legislative action on some of the bills before it that are aimed at strengthening penalties for rape and increasing the protection of children, girls, women, the aged and other vulnerable persons.
On Wednesday, a bill to prohibit the stigmatisation of victims of rape and insurgency has passed second reading in the Senate.
This followed debate on the general principles of the bill by the sponsor, Sen. Sani Musa (Niger-APC) during the week plenary.
The bill was entitled “A Bill for an Act to Prohibit the Stigmatisation of Victims of Rape and Insurgency in order to encourage victims of rape to testify in court and victims of insurgency to be reintegrated into the community of his or choice.” Leading the debate, Musa said that the bill was read for the first time in the chamber on Dec. 10, 2019.
He said that the objective of the bill was to provide a legal and institutional framework for the protocol for reintegration of victims of rape and insurgency in the country.
Musa said that the bill if passed into law, would certainly provide a new lease of life for victims of rape and in the country.
He said that it was high time the Senate legislated and took actions that would address some of the shortcomings in the country’s legal system on issues of stigmatisation for victims of rape and violence.
Supporting the debate, Sen. Sandy Onor (Cross River-PDP) said that one of the topmost issue that was gaining currency in the country was the unending protest against rape and brutality against women.
He said that the bill if passed, would show to Nigerians that “it is action not words’’. We have a way of moving quickly from theory to practice.
“We must ensure that prosecution for rape and brutality against women is accelerated in our judicial process. Let justice be served in a way it should be served,” he said.
In his remarks, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan said rape was a menace that must be addressed in the society.
“We have to be in a haste to pass the legislation in order to arrest the situation.”

He thereafter referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters and they are to report back to the upper chamber in four weeks.
An NGO, Save the Children International and the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations in Gombe State, have called for the domestication of the Child Rights Act, to curb the menace of rape.
The organisations made the call in Gombe on Wednesday, at a media roundtable meeting organised by the NGO to highlight issues on child marriage and rape in the state.
Mr Akpan Effiong, Coordinator, Community Engagement and Advocacy, Save the Children International, said that domestication of the Child Rights Act was imperative to address issues of rape in the state.
According to Effiong, until the Child Rights Act is passed, it will be difficult to enforce justice, which is key to child protection.

“We cannot rest until there are implementations of laws to fight such sexual violence in the society. But if the laws are not there, protecting children becomes difficult,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hajia Zariyatu Abubakar, Coordinator, Coalition of CSO in the state, condemned the high rate of rape cases and other acts of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the state.

“Records available to us show that from March 2020 to date, about 26 cases were officially reported, out of which 23 cases have been charged to court, while others are being investigated,” Abubakar said.
Mrs Julie Okah-Donli, Director-General (DG), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), has cautioned Nigerians to desist from justifying rape or get arrested as suspects.
She queried parents for not doing enough to take care of their wards and children, explaining that 90 per cent of rape cases were committed by uncles, fathers and relations.
According to her, many careless acts by parents are responsible for rape cases across the country.
She, therefore, said that the agency would approach the Ministry of Justice to push for the establishment of special court to try rapists.
Okah-Donli also called for life imprisonment instead of capital punishment for convicted rapists, adding that there was need to educate Nigerians, especially neighbours on rape issues.

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