It was on a very normal day, after school hours, humid as it usually is in this part of our world. There were 4 of them, a teenage girl who was the house help and caregiver, and the 3 boys who she was looking after.
The oldest was about 7, while the other 2 were much younger, 4 and 2 respectively. Their parents were at their various places of work, usually returning from work about 5pm. They weren’t unusually busy folks, regular public servants. It started off as usual innocent games, role play, the teenage house help was the ‘mother’ while the 7 year old boy was the ‘father’ and the 2 little boys were the babies. To make it more real, she told them that all should go into one of the rooms in the house. She put a rubber mat on the floor, put one pillow, and asked ‘daddy’ to come and lie down. ‘Daddy’ was only more than willing as this was a game they had played several times. ‘Mommy’ took the 2 little ones and laid them at a corner of the room, covered them with a sheet of cloth and sang a melody to lull them to sleep. As most mothers are wont to do, she asked that they close their eyes and pretend to be sleep.
However, the role was so real that both little boys drifted off to sleep in no time. She then came and lay next to pretend daddy and told him the ‘babies’ had slept. Pretend daddy then asked ‘mommy’ to bring him ‘pretend’ food. However today, rather than bring ‘food’ ‘mommy’ touched ‘daddy’ inappropriately in his privates. ‘Daddy’ was at once surprised, curious and intrigued.
‘What are you doing?’ he asked. ‘You will like it, I will show you’, she replied. She proceeded to get a bed cloth, covered herself and ‘pretend daddy’, and then removed her undies. She took his little fingers and guided them to her privates. She made him touch her. He giggled with a mixture of disbelief and surprise at this totally new experience. She pulled his shorts and lay down on him trying all the while to make his now excited but barely developed boyhood to find its way and keep inside of her.
She thereafter told him that if he reported what happened to anyone, she was no longer going to be his ‘friend’ and that they would no longer play together. Of course he kept to the promise, never knowing in his innocence, that he was being manipulated by a molester, one who had power over him.
That was his warped introduction to the female sex, he was a victim of sexual molestation. This is a true story.
‘A 50 year old father, Peter Ayemoba, was arrested by the Police for having carnal knowledge of his 2 daughters’ (ABN TV News of June 13, 2020). He was reported to have started raping the now teenage girls 7 years ago shortly after their mother died.
According to him ‘What I did after my wife’s death was to bond with my children and they became closer to me until gradually I started sleeping with the girls’, he said.
Continuing he said ‘At times I would threaten to kill them and commit suicide if they would not allow me sleep with them. I told them intercourse between a father and his daughters was normal as it is written in the Bible. I referred them to the story of Lot and his daughters’.
Upon exposure of his dastardly action, he tried to justify it, saying, ‘They voluntarily, willingly accepted to be having sex with me any time I demanded it. What baffles me is that for the number of years we were having sex, we were happy. Then all of a sudden they reported the incident to a family member who brought us to where we are (the Police)’.I am still surprised at what they (his daughters) did’, he concluded!
The story of Vera Omozuwa (Uwa), the deceased 22 year undergraduate of UNIBEN whose case is still under investigation, who was raped and brutally battered is still fresh. She died on May 30th, 2020 from her injuries. Her ‘sin’ was that she was alleged to have gone to read inside a Redeemed Christian Church premises somewhere in Benin city. Some story had floated about a week ago that she allegedly was pregnant for a pastor of a church and had refused to abort the pregnancy which may have led to the alleged pastor organizing the assault which led to her death.
A nine-year-old pupil (name withheld) on Wednesday, October 09, 2019, narrated before an Ikeja Special Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Lagos how a 40-year-old policeman, Andy Eghobamien, lured her into his apartment and defiled her on numerous occasions.
According to the Vanguard Newspaper (online edition) of same date, the child stated that the accused, whom she confirmed was their neighbor, and whom she referred to as uncle Andy had defiled her on several occasions. During the incident that led to his discovery, he had lured her to his room in the pretext that he wanted her to buy milk for him.
According to her testimony, ‘I bought the milk and when I returned, the policeman asked me to bring it inside his room. He then said I should drop the milk on the table and sit down. “When I sat down, he now told me to lie on the bed and remove my pant. He now put his penis in my bum. He put his penis at my front bum (she demonstrates by pointing at her vagina). “After that, he asked me to hide under the bed when my elder sister came calling my name. One of our neighbours, Chioma, even entered his room to buy recharge card for him, though she didn’t see me, I saw her from under the bed’ she stated.
Stories like these are myriad, they happen every day, and with increasing frequency these days. Mostly though, the victims are the girl-child, and women. But the boy child is not spared, and some men too. No day passes without multiple cases reported across various media, print and electronic, of cases whose common denominator is rape in the form of incest, sodomy, defilement, etc.
In deconstructing rape however, it is important to determine and understand what constitutes rape as the determination of a problem is a first step in finding a fitting and lasting solution. The Criminal Code (applicable to southern parts of Nigeria) and Penal code (applicable to the North) are 2 of the primary legislations on criminal actions and punishment. Rape is a criminal offence and is covered therein.
Both legislations define rape as when a man or a person has sexual intercourse with a woman or girl (carnal knowledge) against her will, without her consent or with incorrectly obtained consent. Under the Criminal Code, sexual intercourse with an under aged girl or person of unsound mind constitutes defilement. Under the Penal code, sex with a girl under 14 years or of unsound mind, with or without consent is rape; but no sexual (mis)conduct by a married man towards his wife can be classified as rape. In other words, a man CANNOT rape his wife, unless she has not attained puberty. These common threads run in these laws:
- Rape occurs against women or girls only
- There must be carnal knowledge (penetration of a woman’s reproductive organ),
- Absence of consent or such consent must not have been incorrectly obtained.
- A deficiency immediately seen in the above laws, which are the extant laws generally applicable in Nigeria, is the assumption that rape can only be against the female, and that it only involves unlawful penetration of the female reproductive organ. We now know, that rape can occur against a male, especially for the under-aged boy-child who is unable to grant consent by virtue of age (statutory rape), and through unlawful penetration of any orifice of the male/female (anal or mouth).
- A more progressive legislation called the VIOLENCE AGAINST PERSONS PROHIBITION ACT (VAPPA) was passed in 2015 to address a number of the existing deficiencies in the 2 laws mentioned above. However, VAPPA only applies in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory for now. The law made some improvements by broadening the scope of rape by defining it as ‘when a person intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus, or mouth of ANOTHER person with his/her body or ANYTHING ELSE without consent, or with incorrectly obtained consent’. Incorrectly obtained consent is said to be obtained through things like force, threats, intimidation, false or fraudulent representation of the nature of the act to be committed, use of substance capable of taking away the person’s will, and or by a person impersonating a married woman’s husband in other to have sex with her.
- Another legislation called the Child Rights Act (CRA) of 2003 makes provision for and states that sex with a child is rape. This is revolutionary in scope and application and seemingly offers the most protection against children who appear the most vulnerable of all groups to rape. However, this legislation has its own fair share of deficiencies and controversies despite its well meaning intentions:
- a. The Act defines a ‘Child’ as someone below the age of 18. This definition however contradicts another federal legislation, the Young Persons’ ACT (YPA) in its definition of a child. The latter defines a child as someone who is less than 14 years of age, and defines anyone above that but less than 18 as a Young person. The CRA would also appear to contradict S.282(1e) of the Penal code which provides that sex with a girl under 14, with or without consent, is rape.
- b. The CRA, despite being a federal legislation is not of mandatory application across the country. Application is only limited to states that have domesticated it, that is, made it applicable to the state through passing the legislation as law in that state through their House of Assembly. About 11 states are still to domesticate this Act.
Despite the above challenges however, the CRA offers far reaching protection to children and young persons’ especially against statutory rape (unlawful sex by the fact of the victim being legally incapable of granting consent by virtue of being underaged or a child). - From the above laws, despite whatever deficiencies or inadequacies there may be in some, one can safely surmise that Nigeria is not deficient in laws that deal with rape. The laws referred to variously make provisions also for appropriate punishment upon SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTION and CONVICTION of offenders. Punishments ranging from prolonged years in prison and even life sentences are abound in these laws. One can safely surmise safely surmise that as presently constituted, there are enough laws to punish the rising incidents of rape as well as to pose as deterrence to such. But it would seem that rather than the laws achieving these objectives (of punishment and deterrence), more rape cases occur daily and even more go unreported.
This reality therefore raises the question, et solutio? How do we solve this menace? - Rape is a crime, a public health issue and an instrument of subjugation. Many rape victims have succumbed to sexually transmitted health challenges like HIV/AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea, hepatitis b, etc. Many are psychologically scared for life, while some suffer from anxiety and depression, as well as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Many have found it difficult and at times impossible to adjust to a normal and healthy sex life as a result of rape trauma. Some females and girl-children suffer unwanted pregnancies as a result of rape while some have suffered permanent physical deformities as a result of rape.
Prevalence of date drugs and alcohol, and accessibility of pornography (including very disturbing child pornography and other materials that promote kinky and extreme sexual practices) have in no small way exacerbated rape and sexual assault incidents in the society and against minors. Peer pressure especially among boys, in secondary schools and institutions of higher learning has also been identified as contributory factor to rape incidents in schools. Among some fraternities and confraternities or more notoriously known as secret cults in some schools (secondary and tertiary), rape is part of the rite of initiation into such cults or ‘coming of age’.
In war and conflict areas, combatants sometimes deliberately deploy rape as a weapon of subjugation and fear. In such cases, mostly women (and men in some cases) are the victims. A report by The Guardian of UK of November 13, 2017 revealed that rape of males was used systematically in Libya as a war instrument for subjugation. Closer home, a Washington Post report of April 03, 2016 by Kevin Sieff detailed what it called ‘a savage campaign of rape and sexual slavery’ against thousands of girls who were caught up in the Boko Haram insurgency. It stated that a lot of these women suffered intolerable violence at the hands of their rapists and many were subjected to forced marriages to their captors.
Rape and sexual molestation continue to thrive as a result of impunity due to weak or tepid enforcement of extant laws.
Flowing from recent outcry against rape and sexual violence against minors/girls/women, coupled with frustration on this growing trend, many people have renewed calls for stiffer penalties against rapists. Some have even gone to such extremes as advocating for crude castration of male sexual molesters and rapists (forgetting that there are also some female rapists and predators too). Some of the crude methods advocated are best left to sordid imaginations. There have been increasing calls for the death penalty for convicts to serve as deterrence. While the increased calls to stem these terrible and dastardly incidents of rape and sexual molestation are welcome, we posit that the solution lies not in stiffer punishment, but in the PROCESS of handling rape and sexual molestation allegations and reports, as well PROSECUTION. For as long as attention is not paid to these 2 and they are better organized, and maybe codified, I daresay that we shall only be paying lip service to this menace and it would only continue to recur.
Statistics show that there is a disproportionate difference between incidents of rape in Nigeria and conviction for same. According to Women At Risk Foundation (WARIF) publication dated September 2018, about 10, 000 women are raped daily in Nigeria. A study by Global Health Action in 2014 titled Rape in Nigeria: A Silent Epidemic Among Adolescents With Implications for HIV Infection, quoted a report that indicated about 11-55% level of sexual coercion and abuse of female adolescents in Nigeria. According to a Wikipedia article on Child Sexual Abuse in Nigeria, UNICEF reported in 2015 that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 10 boys in Nigeria had experienced sexual violence before the age of 18. And according to a survey by Positive Action for Treatment Access, over 31.4% of girls in Nigeria stated that their first sexual encounter had been rape or forced sex of some kind.
According to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), statistics of reported rape and indecent assault cases to Nigeria Police amounted to 2, 279 in 2017. Considering the above reports and our notoriety for not keeping adequate data, it can safely be assumed that the NBS figures of 2017 are on the VERY conservative side. This is coupled by the fact that more rape cases go unreported than are reported as a result of the socio-cultural or religious implications of rape in Nigeria. Interesting (or disturbing) to note from the NBS statistics however, is that of these 2, 279 reported cases, zero (0) conviction was recorded within the same period!
Getting accurate data and statistics on convictions for rape in Nigeria is difficult at best. Various claims have been made on the rate of convictions and one was sensationally made in 2015, albeit incorrectly, that only 18 rape convictions were made in Nigeria between 1960 and 2015! As inaccurate as that claim was, the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) stated their findings in their report dated July 2019 as 65 convictions for rape cases between 1973 and 2015, consisting of 32 convictions between 1973 and 2015, and 33 convictions between 2015 up to the time of their report. They stated that most of these convictions were delivered by Magistrate, Sharia, Upper Area, and High courts. Putting into account the data from Lagos state which is relatively proactive in responding to cases of rape and child molestation, in 2011, out of 283 cases of child sexual molestation reported, only 10 convictions were secured from those prosecuted. We can determine from all these that the rate of conviction in Nigeria is abysmal, at best.
This therefore re-emphasizes our belief and supports our theory that more stringent punishment, even the death penalty is not the solution to the rape epidemic, but a careful reappraisal of the PROCESS of reporting, investigation, and DILIGENT Prosecution of the reported cases up till conviction. Like any other crime, no matter the punishment, as long as the perpetrator(s) know(s) that successful prosecution is most unlikely, they will not be deterred.
Presently, the Police are the number 1 complaint centre for cases of rape, and child molestation/defilement. Findings seem to suggest that while it is easier, and parents/guardians/care givers are more open to reporting cases of sexual abuse/molestation against infants and little children, cases of rape against adolescents, young persons, and adults are less prone to being reported. Therein lie some of the factors we need to strongly tackle to ensure ease of reporting and processing these complaints.
Our society, in all ramifications and across all religions and ethnicities hold infants and children in high esteem and largely see it as a duty to grant them protection. Thus, reporting cases of sexual abuse, molestation or rape do not attract any opprobrium from the society.
However, matters of religion, cultural and/or societal values come to play once the victim is seen as having ‘come of age’. The concept of the ‘child’ is viewed differently by different ethnicities and religions. Though the Child Rights Act (CRA) defines a child as one under 18 years, and the Young Persons Act (YPA) defines a child as one under 14, there is no general consensus across religious, ethnic and cultural divides in Nigeria on who or what constitutes a ‘child’ despite these laws. Thus, some societies find no compunction in having a child married or betrothed at 12, 13 or 14 years of age (or upon attaining puberty) believing such a person as having ‘come of age’. So, while most of the laws cited above would consider sexual intercourse with such a person, even if they ‘consented’ as statutory rape in the least [S.282(1e) Penal Code), such societies or religions condone child marriage and a person who suffers an indignity such as rape, in such a domain or situation, would either not report it or may be strongly discouraged from doing so.
In addition, because of the culture of preserving the ‘dignity’ of a family’s name and reputation and the consequent social stigma that goes with rape, victims of rape, mostly females (and males in some instances), would rather seek quiet ‘settlement’ of the matter because the society, especially ours which is strongly patrician, would more likely blame the victim of having brought it upon herself, or blame the family for poor child upbringing and/or raising a wayward daughter. A poll conducted by NOIPolls (July 25, 2019) determined from 47% of respondents that the foremost cause of rape was ‘indecent dressing’, thus making it the fault of the victim for being raped. It is worthy of note that this poll was taken across both male and female respondents! Furthermore, homosexuality is a crime in Nigeria, thus male victims of rape, especially that involving anal penetration, have even worse stigma to contend with. Society usually focuses more on the female rape victim, but the growing menace of rape of boys and men by fellow men fall largely under the radar because of the general abhorrence to homosexuality by the society.
Despite all these, for us, the major factor that inhibits reporting of rape is the lack of a humane complaints channel(s). Like I pointed out above, the Police are the number 1 official complaint channel for rape/sexual assault/molestation in Nigeria. A rape victim should be understood to be what he or she is – a victim, not the cause. A system where the victim who summons courage and goes to report a rape case at a Police station is required, in addition to answering some embarrassing questions (some are asked to demonstrate how it happened), to also provide money for ‘logistics’ is most discouraging.
Therefore, a humane process that humanizes the victim and does not view them as having brought it upon themselves would go a long way in dealing with the issue of reporting rape cases. Creation of a specialized unit within each police station or divisional police station and staffed with police officers who are trained in psychology or trained to interact with survivors of sexual assault/rape, is recommended. In more developed societies, such units or teams, like the Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) comprise of police personnel, medical personnel, and allied service providers some of whom necessarily may not be police officers. Some of these personnel could be drawn from governmental or non-governmental organizations with the right training to handle such complaints. It will serve as a one-stop unit to deal with such cases. Thus, a rape victim arriving at a police station or divisional police office (or such officers arriving at a crime scene to see a rape crime victim) knows that she/he has compassionate and trained personnel that will initiate the process of handling her/his case. Incidents of asking embarrassing and male chauvinistic questions and making light of the whole matter are completely eliminated. The professionals in those centres would also be able to offer the victim immediate advice on how to go about getting evidence of the rape to ensure successful prosecution, like: getting tested to extract blood, semen specimen, saliva; having medical check for internal injuries (this is because many rape/sex assault cases do not involve external injuries), etc. Such special personnel would also be able to afford psychological counseling to the victim to know that they are victims of crime to enable them have the composure to give cogent statements on what they experienced. Many a rape victim fall prey to a family member or someone they know intimately so counseling also enables them to overcome the shock and confusion that may cause them to try to either rationalize or justify the rape.
With timely and proper handling of the process of reporting rape cases and obtaining evidence, the police personnel in such units are better able to furnish the relevant evidence to successfully prosecute the perpetrator. A lot of the time, rape cases are not successfully prosecuted due to:
i. Lateness in reporting it,
ii. Lack of physical evidence of the rape,
iii. Uncooperative attitude of the victim or the victim’s family, and where the above are lacking,
iv. Want of diligent prosecution
A Police prosecutor or Department/ Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) or any other relevant body is better equipped to successfully prosecute rape/sexual assault cases and secure convictions where they have the evidence and materials as well as the presence and cooperation of the victim to work with.
Post conviction, it is recommended that a sex offender, in addition to serving the requisite time in prison, should have his full details uploaded to an online Sex Offenders register, as is the practice in more advanced societies. Such database which could be maintained either by the Police or the DPP office in the relevant states should be such that is available to anyone who intends to make a cursory search, at no fee. This will ensure that such a convict suffers for life, the consequences of his/her actions and the possibility of such a person having access to minors or vulnerable persons is limited. Some suggestions have been made that an online database of all accused sex offenders be maintained and made available to the public. While this may also have some form of deterrence, the likelihood of an innocent person, falsely accused of rape, suffering undue vilification by virtue of such publication, in our opinion, would outweigh its benefit. According to William Blackstone “the law holds that it is better than 10 guilty persons escape, than that 1 innocent suffer.”
The family units and society at large have roles to play in stemming this ugly tide of rape and sexual molestation. Raising properly adjusted children (especially the male child), while it would certainly not totally eliminate rape incidents, would go some way in curbing some of the incidents. When the male child is taught or indoctrinated to feel he is better than the female, it creates a foundation for chauvinism and desire for subjugation of the female child through whatever means including sexual coercion.
Reduction of poverty in the society also ensures that underage children are not exposed to situations that make them vulnerable to predators. Children who hawk goods and items as a means of assisting their parents are daily exposed to all manner of adults and sometimes with terrible consequences. Many have fallen victim to rape in this manner. Additionally, children should be taught early about their sexes and their private parts. Many incidents of molestation by close family members are rampant these days and most times, the predators use fear as instruments of coercion and silence. When children are taught early in life about their body parts, and about parts which are called ‘privates’ and why they are so called, and are encouraged to speak up and report to parents/guardians/teachers and or care givers if anyone touches or tries to touch them there, that silence which the predator seeks in other to cover up their atrocities would no longer be available.
Everyone should also learn to respect bounds and boundaries. ‘No’ should be read to mean what it is = ‘No’, and not ‘maybe’ or ‘yes’. While I admit that it could be quite tasking to suspend ‘action’ when you feel you have a green light and then suddenly get a ‘no’, it is shows self discipline on your part and respect to the other party. And where we have an effective system of adjudication, the prospect of some years in jail and permanent public record as a sex offender should be more than a sobriety check for any intending rapist. Remember, there is an offence called attempted rape too!
Ultimately however, as we have posited above, establishing a humane process of handling rape reports which encourages victims, no matter their sex or age to come forward, and which follows through till diligent prosecution and conviction would truly ensure that the present pervasive culture of impunity is curbed, and due punishment meted out. Therein lies the real deterrence.
Obinna Mbata, Esq.
(obinolegal@yahoo.com; Twitter @ombata)
