Wife of Kaduna state governor, Hajiya Ummi el-Rufai, has decried the alarming rate of rape in Kaduna state, which she put at between three and five cases daily.
Consequently, she has called for castration and death sentence as penalty to deter rapists.
Speaking Monday when she visited Kaduna state House of Assembly to advocate for harsher penalty and improved implementation of the law against rapists and intending rapists, ahead of amendment of section 258 of the Kaduna state Penal Code 2017, Hajiya Ummi lamented rape cases and gender-based violence against women and children.
Ummi said there is need for harsher laws and punishments to protect the citizens of the state, particularly women and children against rape and other sexual violence to serve as deterrent to other intending offenders.
Public hearing on the bill for a law to amend the section 258 of Kaduna state Penal Code 2017 has been scheduled at the Kaduna State House of Assembly (KSHA) after the bill scaled through second reading.
“I am here to see how our respected lawmakers can expedite speedy passage of the amended bill on sexual violence. It is happening to our children and women every day. Our children and women need to be protected and that is why I’m seeking for the speedy passage of the bill.
“We have three to five cases of rape from all parts of Kaduna on a daily basis. I am saying this because I am directly involved having been working closely with groups of individuals working on sexual violence here in Kaduna. Already, the governor is doing a lot to make Kaduna a safe place for all citizens irrespective of their gender.
“So, I believe, if we have this bill passed into law, our children and women in Kaduna will be safer than what we are seeing now. This is why we are calling on our lawmakers if possible, to ensure harsher penalties including castration and death sentence to serve as deterrent to rapists and intending rapists,” she said.
The speaker, KSHA, Yusuf Zailani (APC Igabi), in his response, expressed concern over the increase in reported cases of violence against children and women, promising to give the bill a speedy passage into law latest by next week.
Zailani, who received his August visitor at the Assembly’s Common room said, this was the first time a wife of a sitting governor would be interested in such an important bill to the extent of visiting the House on advocacy.
