By Sunmola Olowookere

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This court holds that the prosecution has proven a case of rape against you beyond reasonable doubt and you are hereby sentenced to five years imprisonment. Your sentence is to commence from the onset of your incarceration,” the judge said while he pronounced a judgment in a case of rape.

The accused in the dock wept tears of joy. He had already been incarcerated for five years which means he was going home. His lawyer beamed with relief. The prosecutor did not share their sentiments. She was incensed.

She got up to adress the judge. It was obvious that her words would not be the usual refrain of “my lord, we appreciate you for the well delivered judgement”.

She bursts out ” but my lord! It’s rape”. Usually, the accused person ought to have gotten 14 years behind bars but he was going home.

Smiling, and with his voice tinged with warning, he replied her “yes I know”. Her colleagues tried to shush her. It would be in poor taste if she insisted. She could even be slammed with contempt charge.

At this point, she had to control herself. However, she was pained. She had become emotionally attached to the case because the victim was a minor who was also motherless.

Government at all tiers are no longer taking it easy with cases of rape.

This is because record shows that females are the most affected by the menace.

Experts have adduced the current increase in the trend to the effects of drugs and rituals.

A popular radio presenter is currently going through trial at an Akure high court sitting at Olokuta for having the carnal knowledge of a pregnant teenager who came for prayers in his church.

 According to her, the accused person allegedly told her that he was trying to reposition the foetus in her womb for easy delivery.

The pregnant woman also claimed that he had used some black substance on her during the alleged rape.

Most of the rapes were accompanied with the murder of the victims and some of these discovered cases were widely reported in the media.

A woman escaped death by the whiskers when she hooked up with a lover in Akure. After bouts of rough sex, the lover, a younger guy had tried to kill her and she barely escaped his evil intentions as he slashed her with knife all her arms and face.

In Edo State, 22-year old Uwaila Omozuwa was brutally raped and murdered when she purportedly went to read in her church. Later, investigation revealed that the lady was caught in a tragic love triangle as she got impregnated by her pastor.

According to her suspected murderers, her refusal to abort the pregnancy had earned her the evil fate meted out to her by her married pastor-lover who wanted to cover his misdeeds.

According to newspaper reports, the pastor had invited her to their rendezvous in the church and she came not knowing that messengers of death were lurking in the shadows and waiting for her. The rest is history.

Barakat Bello suffered similar fate in her house on June 1, 2020.

A 12-year old girl was gang-raped by four masked men in Ajah, Lagos state. 11 men were arrested in Jigawa State for serially raping another 12-year old girl.

The experiences of girl breadwinner raped while hawking pawpaw and sachet water on the streets of Ekiti and Ogun States showed how the public and private spaces have become deadly for the girl-child.

A young man also burst into the room of a septuagenarian in Ekiti State and raped her while she slept. The recurring cases of rape has made Ekiti State to introduce a publication called “sexual offenders register”. In this document, names of people convictedfor rape are published for the public to note.

Recently, Ogun State Police Command arraigned a 35-year old man identified simply as Kehinde,before an Ota Magistrates’ Court for allegedly raping a physically challenged girl.

In Cross River a 38-year-old suspected cultist, Ekemini Asuquo Aya confessed to the police that he lured a 14-year-old girl with N1,  500 to a hotel where he forcefully had carnal knowledge of her.

Asuquo later collected the money from the victim and threatened to kill her if she reported the incident to the Police.

A serving youth corps member on prlmary assignment in Uyo was gang-raped by two personsOfonime Essien and Frank Okon when she went to charge her phone in their apartment.

In a related development, operatives of the Nsit Atai Division acted on credible information and arrested a 55-year-old man, Udo Ekong Esau of Odot 1 village Nsit Atai Local Government Area, on the allegation that he forcefully had carnal knowledge of his stepdaughter and impregnated her.

The suspect Udo Ekong Esau having realised that his stepdaughter was pregnant chased her out of his home.

The police revealed that all the suspects had confessed to the crime and would be arraigned.

Non governmental Organizations are currently calling on the Nigerian government to declare a state of emergency on the trend as it was growing in leaps and bonds.

INDECENT DRESSING FINGERED AS ONE OF THE CAUSES OF RAPE

Some Nigerians have taken to the social media to advise Nigerian women to develop the attitude of decent dressing in order to curtail incidences of rape.

A substantial percentage of Nigerian men believe that indecent dressing contributes to causes of rape despite the fact that most of the victims of rape reported in the media were either minors or religious adherents like Barakat and were decently dressed.

These controversial comments which thronged the social media regarding the causes of rape and whereby some people passed comments such as ladies should learn how to dress decently so that they will not be victims of rape have been generating heat on some platforms.

These comments and others like it did not sit well on the women community and it sparked a range of emotions and counter comments.

NAPTIP GOES TOUGH ON COMMENTS JUSTIFYING RAPE

Natlonal Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons had also threatened that the agency would henceforth arrest anyone who justifies rape.

The agency’s threat came as two members of the House of Representatives, Henry Archibong and Ahmadu Jaha apologized’ to members of the House and Nigerian women over their comments on incidences of rape in the country.

The two lawmakers had while contributing to debate on rape cases in the country during one of the House plenaries said to avoid rage, women should be asked to dress decently. The contributions were reportedly shouted down by members of the House.

However, Archibong later admitted that he received insults and abuses from Nigerians and his constituents over the suggestion,saying he was sorry for his comment and promised his support for any punishment for anyone found guilty of rape.

WOMEN GROUPS STANCE ON RAPE

Women groups believed that the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act will check the menace and in several fora have been agitating for the law to be enacted.

According to Lawpadi.com, the VAPP act was enacted to eliminate violence in public and private life and had some provisions included in it which were earlier missing in the existing law.

For a case of gangraping, VAPP Act prescribes a minimum of twenty years imprisonment for those found guilty and also covers sexual violence against male. It also stipulates that the object of violation does not have to be penis, it could be a pen, pencil or dildo (a sex toy)

A gender activost and a lawyer, Bola Joel-Ogundadegbe in an interview said that the VAPP act is a federal government enactment which some states have adopted but was yet to be fully in force in Ondo state.

Delay in prosecutions sometimes truncate the course of justice. By the time trial starts, the trail would have gone cold.

Some rape cases are sometimes struck out by courts due to lack of diligent prosecution. Prosecutors oftentimes go through stress due to unwilling witnesses. When witnesses shy away from coming to court to testify, prosecution process becomes hindered

Speaking on this issue, Ogundadegbe expressed that prosecution in rape cases often suffers setback due to non availability of the medical report which is very vital to prosecution of rape cases.

She urged rape victims and their families to speak out against rape and not be afraid or shy. They should not think of people that may try to stigmatise or victimise them and demand for justice. They should also speak to organisations that can fight for them.

WHAT A CRIMINOLOGIST HAS TO SAY ON INCIDENCES OF RAPE

Dr. Tade Oludayo, a criminologist explained that in most cases of rape, a predictable routine provides opportunity for criminality especially when the target is “attractively” unprotected.

In a celebrated rape case in a church some couple of years ago, the victim, Uwa was said to have a predictable routine of collecting keys and reading in the Church and would be alone. The church seems not to have anyone guiding the structure during her reading time.

Another victim of rape and murder, Barakats attackers knew that the parents would be away at certain time and her younger sister would go for Quran lesson. She would be alone with no help considering the detached nature of her house in the community surrounded with bushes.

The 12-year old in Ajah was attacked when the father went out to buy fuel and the attackers came in through the fence not through the entrance gate where we learnt people were working.

He advised that people should guide against having a recognized routine that might make them vulnerable to criminals.