State governors are poised to take drastic action against rapists as plans are underway to declare a state of emergency on rape in all the 36 states of the federation. Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Ekiti State governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who gave the hint yesterday vowed to mobilise state governors to declare a state of emergency on rape in their respective states.

Apparently miffed by incessant cases of rape and murder in the country, the NGF chairman declared that henceforth no person convicted for sex offence such as rape would enjoy his powers of prerogative of mercy.

Speaking in Ado Ekiti while signing the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Child Victims of Sexual Violence Bill 2020 into law, Fayemi directed the state attorney-general and commissioner for Justice, Wale Fapohunda, to henceforth oppose bail or plea bargain for rape offenders in the state. Vowing to mobilize other 35 state sovernors to declare state of emergency on rape, the governor said rape had often led to untimely deaths and emotional trauma, adding that the menace is beyond what government of a particular state can conquer alone. He stated that he will use his position as the chairman of the NGF to rally support of his colleagues on the need to declare a state of emergency on the menace in their respective jurisdictions.

The bill signed by Fayemi yesterday is aimed at fortifying and tightening the loose ends in the Gender Based Violence Prohibition Law 2012 earlier passed by the State House of Assembly about a week ago. Declaring that he would show no mercy or grant bail to rapists anymore Fayemi said, “The Ministry of Justice is further directed to reaffirm state policy of opposing bail and rejecting plea bargain proposals from perpetrators of rape and child defilement. The state government’s policy of ensuring that convicted sex offenders do not benefit from my power of prerogative of mercy also remains in force.
“The Ministry of Justice is already working on measures to clear the backlog of rape and child defilement cases stalled because of the closure of courts as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. We are determined to improve conviction rates and provide comprehensive and appropriate support services to ensure survivors of sexual offences are not subjected to further trauma”. He disclosed that the ministry had been directed to review existing laws, with a view to proposing to the House of Assembly, necessary legislative changes to further ensure that the offences of rape and child defilement attract harsher sentences in Ekiti. Describing the new law as timely, the governor said, “It is fitting that the House of Assembly passed this legislation this week.

Over the past few days, our country has witnessed acts of extreme violence perpetrated against women and children. “In our state, the story is not different. Not a day passes without reported cases of rape and child defilement”. He noted that stated that the women in the state had called for a state of emergency against rape which would enable more decisive actions to be taken against the scourge. Hinting of his plans to mobilise his colleagues against rape, the NGF chairman said, “While I appreciate the basis for this demand, it is my view that there is a need for a national consensus on the issue. I will be engaging the Nigeria Governors’ Forum at our next meeting to determine what emergency measures can be put in place to address this crisis more effectively and on a national basis.
“We will strengthen the Gender Based Violence Management Committee to continue to provide rapid and comprehensive responses to all forms of violence against women and children.

“In particular, the GBV management committee will be empowered to improve collection and analyses of data to monitor our GBV programmes as a statewide sexual violence prevalence study will be commissioned in the general population to enable us have reliable data on the nature of the problem. “I’m proud to sign a law that affirms one of the important policies of my administration. The ‘Compulsory Treatment and Care for Child Victims of Sexual Violence Bill, 2020’ reaffirms our commitment not only to prompt medical care for child victims of sexual violence but also supports our resolve to achieve the effective prosecution of sex offenders”.
Fayemi said he had opened a register of sex offenders of all persons convicted of acts of sexual violence and have adopted a policy of publicly naming and shaming convicted sex offenders aside enacting a progressive gender based violence law. He declared that child victims of sexual violence in the state would have rapid access to medical facility that can administer emergency medical care, including treatment to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and counseling. “The Ministry of Justice is already working on measures to clear the backlog of rape and child defilement cases stalled because of the closure of courts during the COVID-19 period.
We are determined to improve conviction rates and provide comprehensive and appropriate support services to ensure survivors of sexual offences are not subjected to further trauma,” the governor said.

FIDA Insists On Stiffer Penalties For Offenders The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA has advocated death sentence as a stringent punishment for rapists in the country. The chairperson of Plateau State chapter the female lawyers’ association, Mrs Mary Izam, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN in Jos yesterday that death sentence must be meted out to all rapists in Nigeria. She said if death sentence was enacted as punishment for rapists, this would help in stemming the tide of rape in the country.
Izam noted that the act of rape is close to homicide as the rapist either kills the victim physically or emotionally. The chairperson further pointed out that the act of rape in criminal law is considered as a capital offence. She said that subsequently a capital offence should be treated as such with a stringent punishment which would serve as a deterrent to those nursing the nefarious act.

She added that rape punishment shouldn’t be based on discretional powers of the judge in the various courts. Izam disclosed that rape cases were barely reported because parents, caregivers and victims wanted to protect their children, wards and themselves from stigmatisation, hence the culture of silence. She further said that other factors responsible for rape cases not being reported were social norms.
“Social norms also imped people from reporting rape cases, traditions do not permit the girls to speak when they are violated and there is this naïve belief that if the case of rape is reported it would spoil the family name,” she said. She said that rape cases were being under reported due economic factors, stressing that some victims did not have the financial power to report to the police for investigation on the case.

This, the chairperson said, was simply because the police would ask them to provide money for medical examination. She said that this economic factor was always a constraint that made them give up following the matter to a logical conclusion thereby impeding justice. She further regretted that the country had experienced a surge in rape due to the fact that the courts were shut down because of the Coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown. Izam said that even when the rapists were caught they were usually granted bail, because the police do not want to congest their cells since the courts were locked due to the lockdown. “With the lockdown, the courts are shut down so even when the rapist is caught there is no court to take the offender to, for prosecution that is why there is a high rate of rape.

I think some of the perpetrators go ahead to indulge in the inhuman act simply because they know that the courts are shutdown,’’ she said. Similarly, the national coordinator for the Association Against Child Sexual and Gender Based Violence (AACSGBV), a nongovernmental organisation, Dr Eris Ibi, has lamented the surge in rape cases since the onset of the pandemic in the country.
According to Ibi, the NGO has experienced a rise in the number of rape cases being reported to it. She disclosed that the NGO had witnessed a 300 per cent rise in rape cases reported to its 32 offices in states in the country since the onset of the pandemic. She further disclosed that most rape cases were barely reported because of the issues of stigmatisation, shame, fear and intimidation Ibi explained that most of the victims who reported the cases to the NGO to assist in prosecution later came to withdraw the cases, saying they didn’t want their names exposed or soiled. The national coordinator said some due to fear of the unknown withdrew the cases while others were talked out of the case by the perpetrator.
NASS Member Apologises To Women Over Indecent Dressing Comment Meanwhile, a member of the House of Representatives from Chibok/Damboa/ Gwoza federal constituency, Hon Ahmadu Jaha, has apologised to the womenfolk over his comments suggesting that women should ensure decent dressing to avoid rape. The lawmaker who said his initial comment could imply that women who are victims, partly share the blame of being raped, noted that this clearly, could not have been the intention. Jaha who is the deputy chairman of the House on Committee on Insurance & Actuarial, while contributing to a motion of urgent public importance on rape had on the floor of the House last week proposed that all state governments should domesticate the Child Rights Act, Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, and Anti-Rape Law. He also proposed a maximum penalty of death, or life imprisonment for convicted rapists.

However, his third amendment, which suggested that women should dress more decently to avoid sexual harassment and abuse, was rejected by majority of members. Speaking during a press briefing yesterday in Abuja, Jaha expressed regrets over his comments, thereby affirming the rights of women to their preferred style of dressing. He said, “I made a mistake that has offended the sensibilities of fellow Nigerians and indeed, fellow human beings, particularly women who are our mothers, wives, sisters and daughters.” He declared that there was no justification for raping a woman despite a woman’s choice of dressing. The lawmaker continued: “Unfortunately, I sincerely added another caution, saying, that women should cultivate the habit of proper and decent dressing to avoid unnecessary harassment from men who may not control themselves.

While I totally reaffirm my position that rapists should face death sentences, I regret the part that talks about the dressing of women. “I am more than a million per cent against rape and I am more so, because I have a daughter and I cannot imagine how parents feel when their daughters fall to the evil of rapists”. Reaffirming his position, he said, “Persons who commit acts of rape should be met with the highest punishment on earth, which is death and domestication of relevant laws such as Violence against Persons and Prohibition Act (VAPP) and other relevant laws against gender-based violence in the country.”