Rape cases and the law

It is very sad that while the country is grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic the cases of rape and sexual abuse have been on the increase. Recently, the Nasarawa state Police Command paraded a man who raped a three-month-old baby. In Kaduna state, a six-year-old girl was raped to death and her corpse was dumped a mosque. The story of rape is all over the country.

The rising cases of rape in the country has become a matter of great concern and requires an expedient action to contain it. The victims of these abominal acts sometimes are minions who cannot or hardly speak for themselves. I have often come across or read sad stories on how a father sexually abused his biological daughter and ended up blaming the Devil for his evil act. It took the courageous efforts of the victims to expose the inhuman treatment meted upon them by no other person than someone they trusted.

   Rapists have no identity. They are always in the midst of good people, behaving extremely well but take advantage of closeness to the victims to perpetuate their crime. When they run out of luck and are arrested, you would swear to God they are innocent. No wonder, the victims of sexual abuse are subjected to all forms of psychologically trauma because those who committed the offence are people they know and trusted.

It is very easy to realise that the offender is either parent, guardian, teacher, brother or relative to the victim. The million naira questions begging for answers are: what drives these satanic people to rape? Are their immorality, ungodly and condemnable attitudes being driven by lust, Satan or ritual purpose? Is there any law enacted by the constituted authorities to punish the perpetrators of this heinous acts? 

  These are some of the interesting or rather nagging questions waiting for answers. To begin with the first question, whether rapists are being driven by lust, Satan or ritual purpose, one should look at the age of their victims. For instance, is it not legally wrong to have a forceful sex with minors? Sex cannot be performed without the consent of both parties in case of adults.

What about parents who are fond of sleeping with their children? Disturbed by the rising cases of rape, a member of the House of Representatives during plenary suggested that rapists should be cremated. On whether the National Assembly will agree on the laws to have the rapists cremated or not, the truth remains that Nigeria does not have stringent laws on rape.

Most of the states of the federation do not have laws on rape. The rapists exploit this legislative lacuna to continue with their evil acts believing nothing will happen to them. There is the need for government to enact laws that will see these beast (rapists) join the firing squad. These bad people should not be allowed to move an inch in the society.

Ibrahim Mustapha,

Pambegua, Kaduna state

08169056963.

Leave a Reply