By Augustine Osayande
In a bid to halt the rising cases of sexual abuse among Nigerians, members of the Senate on Tuesday have asked the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris to prosecute more sexual offenders with stiffer penalties.
Lamenting the rising cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence in the country, the Senators urged the IGP to investigate and prosecute cases of sexual abuse, violation and violence in line with the provisions of the extant laws of the federation.
The upper chamber of the National Assembly also mandated it Committees on Health, Women Affairs and Judiciary, Human Right and Legal Matters to engaged relevant stakeholders with a view to resolving these issues.
The Senate further urged the National Human Right Commission (NHRC), National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and paramilitary agencies to establish functional help desk to provide assistance and support to victims as well as handle such cases.
They asked all heads of courts to revisit the sentencing policy on all sexual offences and domestic violence to address the seriousness it deserves.
The development follows a motion by Senate deputy majority leader Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah representing Kebbi South. He noted the frightening increase in cases of sexual violence especially rape cases where more than half of the victims are minors and children below the age of consent.
The Senator further noted that in most of the cases, the perpetrators are usually familiar neighbours, employers of labour and close family members. “The activities of these sexual predators constitute a serious security threat to the larger segment of our society and are severely underreported” Na’Allah said.
He also expressed worry that the perversion is spreading across the country with both the male and female gender as victims especially in view of the poor prosecution and conviction numbers being turned out.
The Senator said the acts portray the country in bad light and are alien to cultural and religious orientation as a people. He recalled that the 7th Senate had passed the Violence against Persons Prohibition Act 2015 and the 8th Senate has passed the Sexual Offences in Tertiary Institutions Prohibition Bill 2016 to combat these perversions.
