Here goes the grim list according to police records
In February this year villagers in Omuma (Imo State) found a
30-year-old man digging a shallow grave on a farm. He was about to bury
a child’s corpse. Under questioning by police, the suspect confessed he
had indeed raped a four-year-old girl to death .The little girl had
been on her way to school when he lured her into the bushes and raped
her.
Six-year-old P knew the men who attacked her in Ogbe-ljoh community
in Delta State. They were her stepbrothers, a 19-year-old and a
16-year-old, who sexually assaulted her at home until she died from her
injuries days later. The two brothers were arrested, they admitted
taking turns with the girl and inflicting wounds on her body to stop
her from struggling. The girl, scared by the young men's threats, told
no one about the attack but her parents took her to the hospital when
her stomach began to swell. She died there.
The Child Protection Network, a non-governmental organisation, told
the police about the rape of a minor by a 62-year-old man, her
stepfather. The 10-year-old victim said that he had frequently raped
her when her mother was not in the house. “Daddy always sleeps with me
when Mummy is not around, and always tells me not to tell anybody, else
I would die," she said. "I have lost count of the number of times my
step-father slept with me”. Her stepfather escaped but he was
eventually caught and charged.
Civil groups, activists and lawyers say rape is widespread in
Nigeria and not regarded as a serious offence under Nigerian law.
Under section 353 of the Criminal Code Act any person who unlawfully
and indecently assaults any male person is guilty of a felony and is
liable to imprisonment for three years. But section 360 of the Act
regards the indecent assault of a woman as a misdemeanour which
attracts a punishment of two years’ imprisonment..
The serious criminal offence of having carnal knowledge of a girl
being of or above 13 years and under 16 years of age is classified as a
misdemeanour which is punishable by two years imprisonment under
Section 221 of the Criminal Code. Even then the accused may be
discharged and acquitted if he can prove that he believed on reasonable
grounds that the girl was of or above the age of 16 years,
A coalition of civil society groups marched to the office of the
Deputy Governor of Lagos state in April 2012 with placards and chanting
anti-rape slogans to draw the attention of the government to the rising
number of cases and to demand the government strictly enforce the law
on rape.
They accuse the police of turning a blind eye to the crime.
According to the Lagos state government, 427 cases of rape were
reported in the state in 2012. This figure does not, however, reflect
the scale of the problem because most rapes are not reported to the
police. Ade Ipaye, the state's Attorney-General and Commissioner for
Justice, expressed concern: “It is regrettable that other cases were
not reported by parents wanting to protect the integrity and identity
of the child-victim. Though the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) got
positive judgments in respect of six rape cases recently, the Ministry
had serious challenges in assembling evidence on rape cases because
most of the cases were reported late."
Adaobi Egboka, executive director of LEDAP (Legal Defense and
Assistance Project) said: "We are not saying the state government is
doing nothing. But it has to do more. Rape cases should be prosecuted
in such a way that victims and parents of victims will be willing to
come forward and make reports."
Gloria Ebuji, executive director of Crime Victims Foundation, a
non-profit organisation in Lagos, said the increasing cases of rape of
minors are committed by people close to the girl such as her father,
uncle, brother, the driver or her guardian: “These men are very close
to the family and the girl trusts them ".
Likewise, Ene Sarah Unobe,
executive Director of the Human RightsEducation and Awareness Centre
(HUREAC), said family ties, law enforcement officers, culture, religion
and tradition helped to protect rapists. "We have seen several cases of
rape where the family will come and withdraw the petition, (saying)
that their church or village members will solve it. Some victims are
afraid of the stigma so they stay back and settle with the man and let
him off the hook.
“Most of these girls come from very poor homes where they can't
afford legal fees. In spite of having the Office of the Public Defender
in Lagos State saddled with the responsibility of handling rape of
minors’ cases, there is the challenge of money as the agency lacks
adequate funds to carry out its activities. The parents then get tired
and you see them collecting cash resettlement from the perpetrator,
therefore allowing the rapists to go free".
Umar Manko, the commissioner of police for Lagos State, denied
police gave rapists an easy time. "Honestly, I don't know what you mean
by 'settling cases in police stations'. We prosecute rape cases that
come our way in accordance with the law while we protect the identity
of the victims. It is natural for the parents to want to withdraw the
case because of the moral implication but the law must take its
course," he said in an interview. "Somebody who defiled a child must go
to jail as the law does not give room for the family to withdraw a case
that is horrendous in nature."
The rape and murder of Cynthia Osokugu, a 26-year-old postgraduate
student at Nasarawa State University, in July 2012 triggered outrage in
Nigeria and abroad. Cynthia was killed in a hotel room in Lagos by men
she met on Facebook. The men drugged Osokugu's drink with Rohypnol, a
powerful sedative often used in rape cases, and tied her up before
raping her. They recorded the scene for blackmail purposes, stole her
mobile phones and then strangled her. The young men fled the hotel but
called the hotel attendant to go and remove that “useless girl from the
room”. Two men were arrested a month later and have been charged with
her rape and murder.
But rapists are also targeting older members of Nigerian society.
The Enugu-Umuada Igbo, a women's group promoting reproductive health
and the rights of women, raised the alarm over the spate of rapes of
older women. In Opi, Nsukka, local government area of Enugu State,.
Kate Ezeofor, the group's president, said young men are targeting women
aged over 70.
“At least 13 older women have been raped in recent times; the
perpetrators were usually young men of between 17 and 25 years,"
Ezeofor said. "I can tell you that one of the rape victims is a blind
woman. One has even died as a result of the disease she contracted from
the incident.” Narrating their ordeals, the women blamed the leaders
and elders in their community for shielding the suspected rapists from
prosecution. Older women are targeted because they are more vulnerable
but it is also feared that men rape old women for ritual purposes: it
is believed to be a form of acquiring wealth in the eastern part of
Nigeria.
The women said the suspected rapists were arrested by the police and
detained at the State Police Headquarters in Enugu State but the elders
of their village allegedly secured their bail in late 2011.The rapists
subsequently took revenge on the women.
NC, a widow, said: “After the first rape, I relocated away from my
husband’s house because the place was lonely but the bad boys still
traced my hide-out and raped me a second time .The first time they
came, I was with a small child. They broke my window and came in around
midnight. I shouted and even started preaching the word of God to him
but he was not moved. {Afterwards) he ordered me to bring my purse and
took 5000 Naira inside it and left only N30. He said he was leaving the
N30 because it is not good for a woman’s purse to be empty.
"After the incident, my husband’s relations moved me to a place in
their neighbourhood to ensure my protection. So, I have been living
with them since last year, until two weeks ago, when the
son-of-the-devil visited again. Three men swooped on me and threw me on
the floor. I shouted and shouted but before help came, one of them had
raped me and they all fled."
JA, a victim from Ogbozalla Opi community, said her eldest son could
not bear the trauma and shame of his mother's rape and had died soon
afterwards. "My son who lives in Abuja came home and took me back to
the city for treatment and to avoid future occurrences since the
community can no longer protect us but he died in his sleep .He just
couldn’t come to terms with the cruelty being visited on his mother."
As for married women, Under section 55 (10) of the Penal Code, corporal
punishment of a married woman by her husband for the purpose of
correcting her is legally justified and permissible!
Yet, the House of Representatives’ bill on “Violence Against
Persons” (Prohibition) is seeking stiffer penalties for rapists .The
51-clause bill, which was sponsored by Abike Dabiri-Erewa, representing
Ikorodu Federal Constituency in Lagos, has been adopted by lawmakers.
Under the bill any man convicted of rape is liable to life imprisonment
while gang rape will attract prison sentences of at least 20 years.
Unobe, a barrister, believes more should be done to protect minors.
“Action regarding the rape of minors was given a stronger backing with
the passing into law of the Child Right Act in 2002. This federal law
cannot, however, be enforced in all states in the country until it is
adopted by the states.
“In Nigeria, out of the 36 states, only 24 have adopted the Child
Rights Law - all the states in the northern part of the country have
refused to adopt it because the Penal Code which is operational in the
North permits child marriage and betrothal of girls to elderly men.
When the law does not recognise defilement of a girl child, there is simply no legal backing to prosecute the offender!
