The Minister
of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen, made this known at the end of the fourth
meeting of the Council which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari,
at the State House, Abuja.
Nigeria’s
Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday endorsed stiffer penalties against
rapists and child abusers as proposed by the Ministry of Women Affairs,
describing the upsurge as embarrassing.
Tallen stated
that the Council’s decision to endorsed the stiffer penalties against sex
offenders followed approval of a memo she presented during the meeting.
The Minister
noted with concern the outrage that had continued to greet high cases of rape
and gender based violence in the country, as a result of lockdown necessitated
by the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
“I’m sure you
are aware that for the past few weeks, the country has been witnessed a lot of
outrage and outcry because of the pandemic within the pandemic that we are
facing.
“I know
before COVID-19, we have always had pandemic of rape cases and gender based
violence.
“But with the
lockdown due to COVID-19, women and children are locked down with their abusers
and the number has escalated three times. There is no state that is an
exception.
“This has
reached an embarrassing situation that a memo was presented in council, calling
for immediate intervention, legal and prompt dispensation of justice in the
cases.
“Because,
from the statistics we have and from the meetings I had with the 36 states
commissioners for women affairs, we have hundreds of cases within our courts
that have not been concluded.
“And out of
one case that has been reported, be sure they are 10 others that have not been
reported. As a result, we called for aggressive media campaigns, public
enlightenment for people to rise up and pick out against abuse of minors and
rape cases.
“We also call
on the judiciary for prompt dispensation of cases and the police to ensure rape
cases are not treated with levity or wish away.
“These are
issues that were presented before council and I am happy to announce that we
got the full support of Mr President and all members of council, that
government will take decisive actions at the highest level to protect women and
children in this country.”
Tallen said
the Council noted that there is an existing law already, the Violence Against
Persons Prohibition Act (VAPPA), 2015.
She said the
Council, therefore, resolved to push for the domestication of the VAPPA, 2015
in states in order to ensure convicted rapists to face deserved punishments for
their actions.
The VAPPA
defines rape as when a person intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or
mouth of another person with any other part of his/her body or anything else
without consent, or with incorrectly obtained consent.
Consent can
be incorrectly obtained where it is obtained: by force/threats/intimidation; by
means of false and fraudulent representation as to the nature of the act, by
the use of substances capable of taking away the will of that person; by a
person impersonating a married woman’s husband in order to have sex.
The VAPPA law
is only applicable in the Federal Capital Territory it does not apply in other
States of the Federation.
Child Rights
Act provides that sex with a child is rape and anyone who has sexual
intercourse with a child is liable to imprisonment for life upon conviction
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