Chief Imam, NSCIIA, FOMWAN, others protest against rape in Edo

The Chief Imam of Benin Central Mosque, AbdulFatai Enabulele, the State Chairman of Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, Abdulaziz Igbinidu, and Federation of Muslim Women’s Association in Nigeria (FOMWAN), Tuesday protested against incessant rape cases in the country.

The protesting Muslim leaders and faithful, who were at the Edo State House of Assembly, secretariat of the Edo State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo State Government House and the State Police command, called for stringent laws to protect women against rape.

The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions such as, “She wears a hijab, she gets raped. She is 18, she gets raped. She is eight years, she gets raped. She is 28, she gets raped. She is 80, she gets raped. Her age does not matter.

Other inscriptions were: “Women are not trash, treat us with respect and honour, say no to rape. Where was your conscience, when she said no?. I say no to domestic violence; Girl child must be protected; #Justice for Uwa#, #Justice for Barakat#,” among others.

Speaking during the protest, Hajiya Halima Jibril, the National Amirah of FOMWAN, said mothers and their girl child now live perpetually in fear of being molested, abused and killed.

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Jibril, represented by Hajia Rabi Abiri, Edo State Chairman of FOMWAN, said that rape in whatever form negates the teachings world’s largest religious groups which preach chastity as an essential requirement for a morally upright family, community and nation.

According to her, as Muslim mothers and Muslim youths of the nation, they had watched with extreme concern the increase in the incidence of rape overtime and had observe that it is not limited to the age group or based on the manner of dressing.

“This has generally heightened our level of insecurity, even our freedom of movement is being threatened and the dignity of womanhood is being shredded.

“This is also working against the education of the girl child as many parents may not want to support particularly their female children to go to school,” he said.

Jibril, however, urged governments to take a holistic look at the security apparatus in each state with a view to curtailing rape, banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism and gang rape.

Also speaking, the chief Imam of Benin, Abdulfatai Enabulele, described rape as evil, barbaric and ungodly.

“God did not create women to be raped but to be taken care of by men. They are companions; they are not our enemies and those molesting them need to be dealt with.

“Rape is evil. Those who raped and killed, they are supposed to be killed while those who rape are supposed to be given life imprisonment.

“We want those in authority to have the political will to penalize the perpetrators. Rapists go scot-free because none of them have been punished and that gave them the audacity to still indulge in it,” he added.

On his part, Abdulaziz Igbinidu , the Edo State chairman of Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, opined that besides Islamic laws that prohibited rape, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria proscribed rape as criminal and against humanity.