NEWS ANALYSIS

By Johnson Edeh

There is today a curious and unprecedented attention on incidents of rape in Nigeria following the recent bill that prescribes life imprisonment for any person convicted of such act. As soon as the Senate passed the bill into law on 3 June 2015, many Nigerians gladly received the news as if it were the answer to a deeply felt need – the need to prosecute violent sex offenders so as to appease the wrath of the offended.

This bill, which was sponsored by Senator Chris Anyanwu, prescribes life imprisonment for sexual offences such as rape, child sex tourism, and the deliberate infection of other people with HIV/AIDS. It also prescribes 10 years imprisonment for incest, life imprisonment for gang rape, 10 years imprisonment for child pornography or a fine of two million naira, while those convicted of other sex abuses will be jailed for 14 years.

But then, we are not unaware that there already exists, in the Criminal Code Act of 1990, and the National Child Right Act of 2003 respectively, provisions prohibiting rape and other sexually related abuses with life imprisonment as punishment for such acts. According to section 357 of the Criminal Code Act, CAP 77, LFN 1990, the notion of rape is defined thus:

Any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl without her consent, or with her consent, if the consent is obtained by force or by means of false threats or intimidation of any kind, or by fear of harm, or by means of false or fraudulent representation as to the nature of the act, or in case of a married woman by personating her husband is guilty of an offence called rape.

Also, in Section 282 (1) of the Penal Code, we read thus:

A man is said to commit rape if he has sexual intercourse with a woman in any of the following circumstances: against her will; without her consent; with her consent when her consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death or of hurt; with her consent when the man knows that he is not her husband and that her consent is given because she believes that he is the man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married, and with or without her consent when she is under fourteen years of age or of unsound mind.

Notwithstanding the tremendous effect this new bill could bring into our dear nation when pursued rigorously, the “already-in-existence” legal provisions against rape (both in the Criminal Code Act and the Penal Code) is questioning the bearing of such unnecessary repetition of bill among the legislative arm of government. It could be recalled that on 5 March 2013, the House of Representatives also approved life imprisonment for any person convicted of rape.  But then there is already a law that prohibits and prescribes punishment for the aforementioned act. For instance, under section 358 of the Criminal code, rape is punishable with life imprisonment; even an attempt to commit it is also an offence punishable by a term of 14 years imprisonment, with or without whipping. If this is the case, what then is the essence of enacting the same law over and over again instead of enforcing the already existing ones with every sense of duty and responsibility?

This recent development leaves one to marvel as to whether the men and women of the Red Chamber are suffering from schizophrenic malady. Need we be reminded that this same Senate failed to stop Senator Sani Yarima from marrying an under-aged, 13-year-old girl, in 2009, even though the Penal Code stipulated that any sexual intercourse with a woman under fourteen years of age is rape? As a matter of fact, on 17 July 2013, this same Senate voted to stipulate that a woman shall not be qualified for marriage until she is eighteen years of age. However, as soon as Senator Yarima protested that such decree was against Islamic law, this same men and women of the Upper Chamber quickly threw rationality into the wind and in so doing re-adjusted the new law to read thus: “A woman is deemed to be “full of age” once she is married irrespective of the age she did so.” By implication, it follows that even an infant could be given out in marriage, if need be, hence the legalisation of pedophilia. What a shame!

Consequently, the big question being raised in some quarters, both by the elite group and the hoi polloi, is, “What exactly are the senators fighting for or against?” Are they trying to score some cheap political goal so as to claim championship for the course of women emancipation? What sense does it make to enact a law against rape and child sex tourism, while at the same time giving room for minors to be sexually abused under the pretence of marriage? I think it’s high time we got our priorities right in this country. It is a matter for regret that some makers of our laws have no good grasp of the Nigerian constitution.

There is, however, another side to this recent development. At least the new anti-rape bill has further strengthened the already existing ones, and has also provoked debate, across the country, on how best to tackle this ugly situation. To this, we say thank you to the outgoing senators. This simply means that there is a way forward. Given that we are already in a new dispensation, I propose, as a way forward, that section 357 of the Criminal Code Act be amended so as to meet the current situation of our time. In this respect, there are two formidable challenges to be considered. The first one is to use inclusive language to amend the definition of rape under our law; while the second bothers on the effective enforcement of the already enacted laws against sexual offenders.

Gone are the days when only men are prosecuted for rape. As far as sexual offences are concerned in today’s world, anybody could be a culprit, male and female alike. Hence, it is unfair that under Nigerian law only a man is capable of committing the crime of rape. Section 357 of the Criminal Code is very clear on this, and as we have earlier noted, it states that “…any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl…” thereby excluding the probability that men or boys can be victims of such act. Anybody who still wishes to argue that rape is an “all-male vice” is either deluded or consciously refusing to accept the truth. Facts to prove this assertion are not far-fetched. For instance, on 17 July 2012, it was in the news that, in Ogbadibo Local Government of Benue State, a man was allegedly raped to death by his six wives. The story has it that on returning from a beer parlour where he normally hung out, the man went to his youngest wife to have sex with her. But, unfortunately for the ill-fated man, his other wives, armed with sticks and knives, demanded that he should have sex with all of them as well. Upon resistance, this man was overpowered and each wife took turns to sleep with him until he passed out. Although the man’s consent was unlawfully obtained before the sexual act, the provisions of the constitution can, at best, charge his wives for manslaughter, or at worst they go scot-free since there is no provision to charge them for rape. This is but one of the many instances that beckon for a gender-neutral definition of rape so that both men and women are equally protected under the law.

However, to put a check on this barbarous act called rape, which has outraged the conscience of mankind in recent ages, there is a dire need to enforce these laws against rape with every sense of moral responsibility, not minding whose ox is gored. There are many laws in Nigeria, but the problem is that those laws are either not enforced at all or, when enforced, the lackadaisical attitudes of some law enforcement agencies will never allow justice to prevail. This is an ill-wind that blows no one any good, hence the need to take the bull by the horns. Not only this, there is also a serious need for underage marriage to be prohibited and considered as an abuse of the right of the child. As a matter of necessity, girls should not be allowed to marry until they attain eighteen years of age. Every child, indeed every Nigerian, has the right to be protected from indecent and inhuman treatment through sexual exploitation, drug abuse, torture, maltreatment and social discrimination.

Rape must stop! It must rather stop now rather than later. Real men and women must learn to accept “NO” for an answer. And just as the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) rightly warned that “we must take action before Nigeria overtakes India as the world’s most notorious rape-friendly nation.” Something urgent needs to be done. The various media houses in the country should take the lead. Religious institutions, schools and institutions of higher learning should as well come in. Traditional rulers, voluntary agencies, social clubs, cultural organisations, should all get involved in this campaign against rape and all forms of sexual molestations. It is only in this way that the axiom that a stitch in time saves nine can rightly apply.