Northern Nigeria is fast becoming a deadly zone for rapists as some states are going tough on culprits with new reforms offering death sentence and castration of persons found guilty of rape.
In the recent past, Nigeria has recorded a significantly high number of cases of rape and sexual violence against women. Between January and May 2020, the Nigerian Police recorded 717 rape cases.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, while giving further details said 799 suspects had been arrested while 613 cases had also been conclusively investigated and charged to court. He added that 52 cases were still being investigated at the time the account was given in June.
The rise in rape cases seen especially this year, pushed many pro-women groups, including the Nigerian Governors Wives Forum to canvass for the domestication of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) in every state to curb the horror being meted out to women and girls.
Though some states are yet to domesticate the VAPP Act, Kaduna, and Kano states are aggressively taking steps to fight the scourge with proposals for castration and capital punishment.
Kano and Kaduna states have for long been battling the prevalence of child rape in their respective states.
On August 18, 2020, one of the wives of Governor of Kaduna State, Ummi El-Rufai visited the Kaduna State House of Assembly (KSHA) to advocate for law that would permit castrating and executing rapists.
The governor’s wife, said an average of five rape cases, especially of minors are reported daily in Kaduna, adding that severe penalty for rapists in the state penal code would serve as a deterrent to others.
She visited the KSHA ahead of a public hearing on the bill for a law to amend the Kaduna State Penal Code 2017 after the bill scaled through the second reading.
The bill, which sought to amend Section 258 of the principal law, was to be amended so as to make it more effective in protecting the citizens of the state, especially women and children against rape and other sexual violence.
“We have three to five cases of rape from all parts of Kaduna on a daily basis….I am here to see how our respected lawmakers can expedite speedy passage of the amended bill on sexual violence. It is happening to our children and women every day. Our children and women need to be protected and that is why I’m seeking for the speedy passage of the bill.
“I believe if we have this bill passed into law, our children and women in Kaduna will be safer than what we are seeing now. This is why we are calling on our lawmakers if possible, to ensure hash penalties include castration and death sentence to serve as a deterrent to intending and existing rapists,” she said.
The speaker of the assembly, Yusuf Zailani, in response, expressed concern over the increase in reported cases of violence against children and women, and promised to give the bill a speedy passage into law.
As Nigerians await further updates on the bill, Ummi El-Rufai also engaged religious leaders who approved capital punishment for rapists in the state at an event she organised on Tuesday, August 25, 2020, themed, ‘Emergency Call to Action Against Rape’, in Kaduna.
