Rising cases of rape is metaphorically used here. Truth is incidents of rape are a yearly occurrence in Nigeria. Since the rape incident of 22 years old UNIBEN undergraduate Uwaila Vera Omozuwa that also led to her murder in the process on 27th May, 2020, no fewer than eight new cases have reported. Rape is the violent act of having carnal knowledge of a person against their will and this is just one those numerous criminal activities going on in Nigeria in recent times. Incessant killings in Southern Kaduna, murder and arson in most northern states, broad daylight fatal robbery in Kogi, kidnapping for ransom here and there are some of the examples of insecurity reigning high in this realm.
The rising cases of rape of the female gender quite draws attention. This is not to say that the other criminal cases are of less importance but it’s an indication of a people who have either lost their sense of humanity or are helpless. This outcry that in the form of call for justice over incidents of rape could be attributed to the fact that they take place within us. 22 years old Uwa got raped and killed inside an RCCG building while reading, some two 25 years old men raped some grandmas of over seventy years old in Ogun and Niger states respectively. Within this same period, 18 years old Barakat Bello who was also pregnant was murdered after being allegedly raped in Moniya area of Ibadan. Few days later within the same area, 29 years old Azeezat Somuyiwa, a University of Ibadan postgraduate student was raped and murdered. The offenders have since joined the public as innocent people while the cases are under investigation with a suspect arrested in the case of Uwa. The campaign against rape in various forms including protests by few concerned Nigerians and civil society groups, social Media awareness with hashtag justice for this, justice for that, etc, are common place in our midst but clearly, they are yet to yield the needed results.
In the past, excuses made for the lack of justice against rape offenders include shame, fear of stigmatization and ignorance on the parts of the victims. Others are police complacency, lack of evidence, etc. Police maintain that incidents of rape can be reported anytime, irrespective of when it happens but in most cases, they fail to deliver justice to some of the victims that dare to come out. A palpable example is that of Busola Dakolo whose case lingers on, just like the time it took to be reported.
Most of these victims of this evil either live with their uncles or stepfathers. Others are raped by opportunists. The situation at hand however is an advanced degree of criminality where victims of rape are attacked, raped and murdered, right in homes or in the neighborhood. It is an understatement to say insecurity or rape is on the rise. It has long passed its height and these victims may never get justice.
One thing that has enabled the scourge of rape and has given the heartless offenders the effrontery to so continue is the lack of justice and adequate punishment for offenders among other things. For instance, Nigeria has no uniform law on rape crimes. The Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 isn’t helping matters. Only recently, the state of Osun made law against rape where an offender upon conviction gets life imprisonment for rape and 24 years in jail for an attempted rape. It’s also a fact that 12 states in the Northern part of the country are yet to pass the gender based violence law. The Uwa’s case has got our ‘revered’ National Assembly depending punishment for rape offenders. They reportedly rejected castration as an option, which option science maintains doesn’t cancel erection. Rise in anger has made some Nigerians to suggest cutting off of the penis as deterrent.
All these inactions of governments at all levels are enablers of the crime. Could governments’ inactions be traced to the fact that some of them are also guilty of the offence or other offenders are sacred cows due to their social status? Maybe! Some big names among entertainers have been recently fingered on the same offence. This is usually ends in the form of name shaming while things move on as they have been. The ongoing #RevolutionNow protest which started about a year ago when it asked government to address these various societal ills fell on deaf ears and doesn’t mean anything to it.
The metaphorical rising cases of rape may continue to abide with us unless the people with whom power reside do something. Meaningful action is needed from people with good conscience. The people must hold government to account. An under policed 200 million people can’t afford to be complacent when the government which serves them goes into a profuse sleep. Think about how officers police Nigerians! Think about the incompetence of most officers who sometimes shoot their victims in bid of collecting bribe. Think about how the large junk of our police have been drafted to secure government functionaries and VIPs!
To this end, the people can no longer limit themselves at the usual lamentations of ‘this government does care’, #weAreTired on social media, etc. The people need to take action offline, leave their comfort zone to occupy roads and streets that lead to government houses and her institutions in asking them to be serious for once, ask them for uniform punishment for these offenders, ask them for effective policing for 200 million, etc. Perhaps, life imprisonment without an option of any form of pardon will be good deterrent.
There is a system decay that makes successive governments especially in our climes to ignore the immediate yearnings of the people. Online ranting will never move them. Rape has become a yearly amplified vice; that is because the particular cases received media publicity. Several others are never in the know of the public. Both rape survivals and murdered victims deserve justice. They are just few of the victims of the numerous criminal manifestations we have around.
