*ON KANO'S TOUGH ANTI -RAPE LAW
By Emmanuel Onwubiko
KANO State government
has approved life jail sentence for any convicted rapist. This piece of news is
one that would gladden the hearts of all lovers of human rights. But it's not
entirely the first time that good news is coming out of Kano State under the
current dispensation whereby virtually all the principal political players are
doctorate degree holders in different choice academic fields. The current
government in Kano has taken the education of street children and the
disadvantaged to phenomenal heights.
Mr. Socrates, the
iconic Greek Philosopher had indeed affirmed rightly that the best way to
achieve good governance is to inaugurate a government headed by a
philosopher-king.
By philosopher -King
this great thinker who transited to the great World beyond many centuries back,
meant a person who is endowed with wisdom to do what is right at every given
time as a political leader to improve the living conditions and social
conditions of the greatest percentage of the populace.
Human Rights Writers
Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has been in the forefront of waging relentless
advocacy campaigns for a legal regime that would be tough enough to dissuade
'animals' in human skin who can't control their sickening supersonic libido but
are roaring round like hungry lions seeking for young girls and boys to
sexually molest and harass to satisfy their irrational sexual desires.
Kano has done well by
instituting this tough legal mechanism and we hope and pray for a successful
enforcement of the legal regime. The Nigeria Police Force charged with the
statutory mandate of investigating crime must take up the gauntlet and train
their operatives to comprehensively become competent and professionally efficient
to handle rape cases in Kano State which in recent times have become very
troubling. The organized civil society groups such as ours (HURIWA) which
has registered members on ground in Kano State will monitor the enforcement of
this good piece of law.
Still on the
legal revolutionary approach that Kano state has just kicked off to combat
sexual violations of teenage Nigerians the solicitor General of Kano state,
Barrister Sani Daniji, who disclosed the new development, told journalists that
this review which was submitted by the state Justice Sector Reform Committee
has been approved by the government due to increasing cases of rape of minors
in recent time.
He reportedly
expressed strong displeasure at the current rate of sexual assault and
gender-based violence in Kano even as he stressed that the new law would be
enforced without fear or favour.
The Kano State
Legal expert who spoke at the Justice for all (J4A) conference on Integrated
Response to Sexual and Gender-based Violence, maintained that government
efforts through the Justice Sector Reform Committee on sexual assault is
currently yielding positive result with significant number of cases being
reported for investigation and persecution. We are aware that this claim is
accurate.
The Kano State
Solicitor General then stated thus; “We now have reasons to celebrate
because of the positive response in the number of reported cases. We are
currently investing on media campaign against sexual assault and the need for
people to report their case to security agencies or the government for
immediate action. Before now many people are being stigmatized in their
environment and that is the major reason why people don’t report their cases.”
The media report
quoted the solicitor general as rendering the State Government's assurance to
Justice for All and all credible Non-Governmental and civil society platforms
of government's unalloyed support to effectively execute its project,
calling for civil society groups, media and community leaders to support government
to check the ugly trend.
From available
report which emanated from that event we were told that the national Programme
Manager J4A, Dr. Bob Arnon, explained that the project, being funded by UK
Department of International Development (DFID) was initiated to fight sexual
and gender-based violence in Nigeria through its Sexual Assault Referral
Centre’s (SARCs) in Lagos and Enugu.
Dr. Bob emphasized
J4A’s collaboration with security apparatus, ministries of justice and civil
society organizations to bring justice to rape victims in the country.
On the extant
difficulty in proving evidence on the part of rape victims before the law
court, Bob posited that J4A is strengthening training of medical personnel and
security officers on forensic analysis to prove the technicalities against
suspected rapists.
“SARCs is being
supported and funded to coordinate our civil organizations, ministries of
health and justice and other collaborating groups including the security
agencies to fight sexual assault. Through these efforts we provide medical and
counseling services to almost 1,200 survivors of sexual assault, 800 of whom
are under 18 in Enugu and Lagos states.”
He noted that the
conference was organized to review its activities in Enugu and Lagos as well as
draw plans to tackle emerging challenges, adding that J4A is working with
Justice Sector Reform Committee in Kano, Jigawa and Niger states ahead of SARCs
implementation in those states.
But why is there no
committed national effort and legal process for strictly enforcing laws that
prohibit sexual violations even when these acts are classified as crime against
humanity under the International Criminal Court's Rome statutes which Nigeria
is one of the earliest signatories? Professor Joy Ngozi Ezeilo a well respected
human rights scholar and practitioner wrote in her book titled 'Women, Law
& Human Rights; global and national perspectives ' that rape and other
forms of sexual violence are serious crime against humanity. Accordingly, she
wrote as follows: "the crime against humanity is defined as such when
enumerated acts under Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International
Criminal Court (ICC) are committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack
directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack. It
includes sex and gender-based crimes such as rape, sexual slavery, enforced
prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of
sexual violence of Comparative gravity. These sort of crimes have happened
repeatedly in much of the North East of Nigeria where Boko Haram terrorists
have unleashed sexual violence on an unprecedented scale on thousands of
innocent girls and boys but not much has so far happened in the area of
prosecution of these offenders both in the Nigerian Court system and the
International Criminal Court in The Hague Netherlands.
The Kano law against
rape is therefore coming at a very good time to reawaken our justice sector
officials in the North East of Nigeria and the Office of the Federal Attorney General
to do the needful to bring perpetrators of sexual atrocities against vulnerable
girls and boys to swift justice. Negotiations of any kind of truce with
terrorists who have committed widespread crime against humanity such as rape is
unacceptable. The Chibok girls kidnapped by these terrorists in their
hundreds are still facing uncertain but horrendous treatment including sexual
violence from their captors.
There is no doubt that
Kano State has set a good example on how best to tackle the ugly social crime
of rape and sexual violations of children and it is our expectation that this
wouldn't go down in the business-as-usual fashion that most other states
approach the disturbing cases of rape.
Those who commit
these heinous crimes must be prosecuted and the law enforcement authority which
over the years has come under increasing scrutiny for conspiring with rapists
to undermine the rule of law must ensure that in this administration of change
mantra that things are done in compliance with the tenets of the law. Rape has
a very long lasting adverse psychological injury it inflicts on the victims for
life and so if serial rapists are left to wander freely and to persistently
recommit same vicious crime then the society has contributed in perpetuating these
dastardly crimes against humanity. Kudos to Governor of Kano state for standing
up to defend the voiceless. We are solidly behind you.
*Emmanuel Onwubiko is
Head of Human rights Writers association of Nigeria and blogs
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