Rape Turns Into National Debate As Nigerians Kick

By Chuks Ekpeneru

Within one week, Nigeria witnessed two horrifying cases of rape with the victims killed.

In Benin, a first-year student of the University of Benin, Uwa Omozuwa, was raped and killed in a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Edo State.

This was followed by that of Barakat Bello, an 18-year-old student of the Federal College of Animal and Production Technology Moore Plantation, Apata, Ibadan, raped and killed in Ibadan.

Barakat who was undertaking the National Diploma programme in Science Laboratory Technology, was reportedly attacked on June 1, 2020.

Nigeria may have joined the league of nations where rape has assumed a rampant level.

Currently trending is that of the Kogi State Commissioner of Water Resources, Mr Abdulmumuni Danga, who is on the hot seat for allegedly assaulting and raping a lady over a Facebook post.

In the wake of the developments, some people have also called out two prominent musicians, Dbanj and Peruzzi over allegations of rape. Those allegations, however, have yet to be proved and are presently hot topics on social media fora.

A survey by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, identified India as the most dangerous place to be a woman. The statistics said a woman is raped in India every 20 minutes.

Recent reports indicate Nigeria may not be far from this statistics. There is almost no week that news of rape does not come out in the Nigerian media. It has assumed a dangerous trend as the rapists no longer differentiate between adults and minors.

Reacting to recent incidents, a non-governmental organisation, Proactive Gender Initiative (PGI) while raising alarm over the increasing cases of sexual harassment, especially rape and incest, called for a judicial commission to look at the existing laws, address the lacunas, if any, and make recommendations to strengthen the fight against sexual and gender based violence.

“The incidence of rape and incest are spreading like wild fire and until there is a concerted and strong federal intervention, this ill-wind that is not blowing anybody any good will persist,” the group noted.

They noted that it was also important for state governments to not only domesticate the Violence Against People Prohibition Act (VAPP Act) and the Child Rights Act, but to enforce the Acts to stem the incidences of rape and incest.

“It is regrettable that years after, most states are yet to domesticate either the VAPP and or Child Rights Act. But it is more germane if the Acts are enforced by states that have domesticated them. Today, some states have the Sex Offenders Register, others need to follow suit so that those who commit these crimes face the full weight of the law and live in the infamy of their crimes.”

The Nigerian Criminal Code recommends life imprisonment for the perpetrators of rape and 14 years for attempted rape.

But Yakubu Sabo, the public relations officer for the police in Kaduna State, said many rape cases involving children are never investigated because parents want to protect their children from being stigmatized.

“Some families kill the evidence,” he said, maintaining the belief that rape victims will not be able to find a suitor for marriage.”

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