The Niger State House of Assembly has proposed a bill for an Act that will provide the death penalty for rape and other sexual offenses. This penalty will however be only effective when the victim dies.
A motion was presented by Hon. Binta Mamman Representing Gurara Constituency, which was also supported by other members of the House. He said
“Rape is unacceptable, it is highly degrading and most times the perpetrators getting away with it due to pending cases in the courts. And, to make matters worst, victims of rape don’t report to avoid stigmatisation.
“That is why measures must be taken to stop it by setting up Courts to trail Rape and other Sexual Assault cases. I urge you, my colleagues to help address this challenge,” Mamman stated.
Other Members lend their voices to the issue of rape, which was described as a pandemic which has ravaged our society.
Hon. Ahmed Bello for Agwara Constituency called the attention of the Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello to come up with a riot Act against the issue of rape.
“That is why, we need to invite the state Commissioner of Police, Commissioner of Justice or a Representative to tell us their challenges at an Executive Session. So, that we can all come together to fight it holistically. It is a serious issue. He said
Shuiabu Mohammed, Suleja Constituency stated that, “The issue of rape goes down to decay in our moral values and among our leaders such as political leaders, religious leaders, and traditional leaders that are supposed to set a good example to us. And, people tend to be more afraid of the traditional laws on rape than conventional laws. In the past, when there is a taboo placed on a thing, people tend to fear to commit an offense in that regard.”
The lawmakers then advised the state Chief Justice to assign some Courts to try rape cases to ensure swift trial of offenders of rape.