A leading pro-democracy and civil Rights advocacy group
– HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has demanded concrete
steps by the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the National Association
of Nigerian Students (NANA) to tackle the incidence of sexual violations of
admission seekers and students.
HURIWA said that the cases of sexual violations of
students and seekers of admissions into public universities are widespread,
however maintained that in 2016, The Senate passed the Sexual Harassment in
Tertiary Education Institution Bill, which provides for a five-year jail term
for a lecturer convicted for sexually harassing male or female students. The
bill was sponsored by Senator OvieOmoAgege who is now the Deputy President of
the Senate.
HURIWA recalled that the bill also proposed a fine of
N5million in the alternative just as it also made provisions for lecturers
and educators who may be falsely accused by their students to initiate
processes by which students could be punished for false accusation.
HURIWA recalled that regrettably there was no
concurrence by the House of Representatives so the Bill did not see the light
of day even as the Academic Staff Union of Universities in Nigeria (ASUU)
also kicked against the Bill because according to it, “in all intents and
purposes, the Bill undermines University autonomy.
Conversely, HURIWA has also proposed the introduction of
a legislation to stipulate the chemical castration of rapists convicted for
violating the dignity of children even as the Rights group has sent the
proposal for the new law to the Federal Attorney General and Minister of
Justice Abubakar Malami; Minister of Women Affairs Mrs. Pauline Tallen; Senate
President Ahmed Lawan and Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives Mr.
Femi Gbajabiamila. HURIWA disclosed that a bill is already drafted which would
be sponsored by a member of the Federal House of Representatives from Anambra
state who had indicated his interest to so do.
HURIWA stated thus: “In Nigeria rape is unlawful carnal
knowledge of a female by a male. It could be non-consensual sex with an adult
female or carnal knowledge of a female child or minor. On the other hand
Chemical castration is the use of anaphrodisiac drugs to lower sexual drive. It
does not involve removing a person’s testicles like surgical castration but
only the use of drugs delivered by injection to render the testicles
irrelevant. According to the American Journal of Criminal Law, 1990, chemical
castration “reduces the production and effects of testosterone, thus
diminishing the compulsive sexual fantasy. Formerly inconsistent and commanding
urges can be voluntarily controlled.”
On Jurisdictions with Chemical Castration Law, the
Rights group stated that: Chemical castration is legal in 8 States of USA
although not all States make the treatment mandatory. In 1996 California became
the first US State to legalize it by requiring mandatory treatment for repeat
sex offenders but discretionary injections for first time offenders. Florida
and Texas followed suit but in the latter State, the offender must be at least
21 years of age. In Iowa, chemical castration is allowed in all cases of
serious sex offences. In Louisiana, judges can sentence convicted rapists
to chemical castration. The State of Alabama law passed in 2019 requires, as a
condition of parole, that convicted sex offender of a child under the age of 13
undergo the treatment which will continue until a court rules otherwise.”
“In Canada, the courts cannot order offenders to undergo
chemical castration – they can only impose psychiatric treatment, which can
include the use of anti-libido medication. In 2006, the Canadian Court of
Appeal ruled it constitutional for the National Parole Board to require that
recidivist sex offenders, if found to be long-term offenders, be chemically
castrated as conditions of release.”
The Rights group which also condemned the university
authorities in Nigeria for failing to rein the rampaging group of bullies in
the guise of lecturers who have continued to rape female students in exchange
for grades and admission said sexual harassment of females and males in schools
have reached an epidemic dimension demanding comprehensive national
panacea.
HURIWA recalled that universities in Nigeria caught
global attention not because of academic breakthroughs that earned
them some laurels but because of the alleged sexual violations and harassments
of students and prospective students by randy lecturers.
HURIWA recalled that the media focus on the nation’s
universities was triggered by the release by BBC African Eye of video allegedly
showing academics propositioning undercover female reporters.
Wearing a secret camera, a reporter, Kiki Mordi, had
allegedly visited Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu, a lecturer of the Department of
European Languages and Integrated Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos
(UNILAG), posing as a 17-year-old admission seeker. The clip went on to show the
lecturer allegedly making sexual overtures to the reporter.
HURIWA citing the BBC stated that a lecturer at
the institution’s faculty of science who pleaded anonymity informed reporters
that many of his colleagues had become jittery, fearing that their sexual
escapades might be blown open. The lecturer noted that the advent of social
media had made it more difficult for randy lecturers to hide.
HURIWA recalled that last Thursday, at
Bayero University Kano, Ghanaian investigative reporter, Anas Aremeyaw Anas,
had told participants during a workshop on journalism “On Monday, October 7,
the BBC African Eye will show another film on Nigeria. The lecturers seated
here today might not be happy about this. The film is about sex for real and
some Nigerian universities are featured in the film.”
Barely hours after the video went public; reactions took
the online world by storm. Thousands vented their indignation on Twitter, with
many hinting that the revelation is only a tip of the iceberg.
The Foursquare Gospel Church issued a swift denunciation
thereafter, asking Igbeneghu, said to be one of its pastors, to “step down from
all ministerial assignments.”
HURIWA said there was the need to put in place
sustainable regime of legal frameworks to confront the hydraheaded monster of
sexual harassment of female students and admission seekers by lecturers. HURIWA
has called on the Deputy Senate President to re-sponsor his bill against the
menace.
No comments:
Post a Comment