For more than a decade now, I have waged what can easily pass as an attritional war against rape and rapists, using this column as a battleground. The fight even stretched beyond our shores. I have taken the battle to such places like India, Kenya and anywhere where the heinous crime is perpetrated. India is perhaps the most notorious destination where rape is so widespread you would think it is a legal pastime. Indians do not just rape and go, they rape and kill! They even gangsterise their victims.
A couple of years ago, I became so concerned about the phenomenon that the idea of setting up a CEAR or Centre Against Rape crossed my mind. The cardinal objective of CEAR was to train young girls in particular and women generally on how to weaponise their bodies for self-defence. The centre would have equipped them with skills in kung-fu, jujitsu, karate, wrestling and kick-boxing as well as how to avoid or escape from unpleasant situations.
Nigerian environment is a extremely hostile to rape victims, while it is kind to the criminal elements that wield their subjacent weapons to pummel innocent women, underage and even toddlers to death too in some cases like the Indians! The rape incidents have been with us and by 2018, the regularity of the crime became almost one per week. For instance, between May and June, 2018, no fewer than six incidents of rape were reported in the media in different parts of the country with only one conviction. Several others might have gone unreported.
Among those charged with rape, tried and convicted were two students of Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo. They bagged life jail terms for the crime and cultism. A victim named Omolola George had told an Akure High Court that she was forcefully taken away from the college premises at gunpoint on a motorbike to an unknown destination where she was gang-raped.
Then, in the following month of the same year, one Hussaini Sirajo, aged 19, allegedly lured his neighbour’s seven-year-old daughter to a farm and forcefully had sex with her at Katoga village in Katsina state.
In Abeokuta, two teenagers were arrested for allegedly gang-raping a 14-year-old girl. The victim narrated to the police that she was pounced on by the assailants while going for her hairdressing apprenticeship not knowing that there was environmental sanitation that kept many people off the streets.
In Ibasa, Lagos state, a 48-year-old father named Tajudeen Adefioye allegedly raped his 10-year-old daughter on May 27, 2018. A week later in Warri, Delta state, a 73-year-old native doctor, Joseph Umuluku, was nabbed for allegedly defiling a 13-year-old girl, after luring the victim to a common bathroom in his compound.
There appeared to be an apparent lull in 2019. But unknown to many, the lull was to prepare for a tsunami of rape incidents in the year 2020.
Rape incidents have become so rampant that the physically challenged folks, beggars and even law enforcement agents are waist deep in the despicable practice.
Instances abound of policemen falling on women in their custody. Teachers, head teachers, and principals have been reported to have defiled their pupils and students under their care.
Also sometime in 2020, a Muslim cleric was allegedly caught on camera raping a minor in a mosque of all places. In the same year, a high-profile pastor of a mega church based in Abuja was in the eye of the storm over an allegation of forcing himself on a married member of his congregation.
While some clerics force themselves on their victims, others have carnal knowledge of them using spiritual cleansing and deliverance as a ridiculous alibi to achieve their goals. These clerics are supposed to be the moral compass in our society
Rapists have no taste. They go for anyone in skirts or wrappers: young, middle-aged, grand or great grandmothers. Biological kids are no longer safe with their fathers; nieces are preyed upon by their uncles.
A tragedy occurred in Equatorial Guinea that caught my interest a few years ago. A young girl slit the throat of her biological father with a barbecue knife to end being serially raped by him. A rapist is a sex thief. On the fateful night, after her mother and siblings had gone to church for a night vigil, the old man tip-toed into her poorly lit room to steal a romp as usual. He had insisted that the girl, the prettiest among his daughters, should stay back to attend to his needs.
However, unknown to the randy father, his daughter had resolved that enough was enough. No sooner had he mounted her than she brought out the glittering knife hidden underneath her pillow and drove the blade into his jugular. She ran out and melted into the darkness, leaving the sexy dog father to gurgle to death. The community elders she had confided in before the incident did everything to shield her from arrest. Tajudeen, mentioned earlier, was fortunate that his 10-year-old daughter was not as daring as the Equatorial Guinea girl.
While there are rapists who force themselves on their victims for sheer physical pleasure, there are those whose actions are driven by the desire to acquire spiritual powers.
Rape is carried out using different methods. The Penal Code (Nigerian Laws Cap 89), applicable in the North of Nigeria, criminalises both rape and defilement (rape of a girl under 13 years). Rape is defined here: “A man is said to commit rape who has sexual intercourse with a woman in any of the following circumstances – against her will; without her consent; and when her consent is obtained by putting her in fear of death or hurt.”
Under the Nigerian law, rape is punishable by life imprisonment, with the possible addition of caning. Nigeria is perhaps the only country that treats rapists kindly. Rapists are worse than armed robbers. A robbed woman can regain her possession. But a rape victim is robbed of her dignity and honour which cannot be recovered. The scars left on the victims do not heal; the psychological and physical trauma make many avoid healthy sexual activity. If not properly counselled, the victim could become a hater of men and lead a very unhappy and unfulfilled life.
It is common for rapists to blame the invisible devil when they are caught. The public also easily forgives them, blaming the horned guy instead for possessing or instigating them. The courts should insist that they produce the instigator(s)! And because families tend to protect their daughters who have been defiled or raped from public stigma, most rape cases are never reported. Such secrecy enables rapists to escape punishment.
This attitude should change. Victims and their families should stop hiding their pains and people should stop stigmatising them. Rapists should be treated like armed robbers or kidnappers who deserve severe punishment. Recently, there were calls in some quarters that convicted rapists should be sentenced to death or castrated. There should be no excuse for not punishing the criminals. In fact, punishing them will help their victims to recover peacefully. Children should be schooled on sex education and taught to avoid strangers including neighbourhood “uncles”, dark alleys, houses with few occupants and lonely streets.
Judges handling rape cases are urged to expedite action on them. Rapists should not be treated with kid gloves. It is gratifying to note that in recent times, some rapists have faced the music. The judges should ensure that the DJs are constantly engaged. Nigeria will be a better place if we keep these evil men dancing to the calaboose.