allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Jitters in Suleja As..Men Seeking Aids Cure Rape Teenaged Girls! (Page 1 of 3)

RAPE had been in existence for many years in the world. It is as old, if not even older than most crimes reported in the world today. Infact, the law is very clear on the crime. For example, in Nigeria , section 283 of the Penal Code provides for life imprisonment or fine for a convict. The same section of the law also stipulates seven years imprisonment for indecent assault and that is to say that if the case of rape cannot be established, the accused can still be charged.

The question now is, why are people still involved in this dastardly act? Why are the culprits difficult to be arrested? What is the role of police and government to stem this crime especially in Niger State where there is an upsurge? Our correspondent, who has been following the trend, especially in Suleja town, reports.

THE World Book 2001 (16) defines rape as the crime of forcing sexual intercourse upon a person against the person's will of which women or men may be the victims. The victim, according to the definition, can be forced by beating or threatened verbally or with a weapon. Statutory rape refers to sexual intercourse with a female who is under the legal age of consent. Some experts believe that rape is one of the most under reported crimes in the world. Many reasons can be attributed to this and they include the fact that many rape victims do not report the crime to the police because of shame or fear. They dread the possible humiliation of media publicity or being asked embarrassing questions by the police or later in courtroom. Also, many rapists threaten to kill their victims if the case is officially reported to the police.

Investigation carried out also shows that the low conviction rate results from the difficulty of proving rape under most state laws. This is because most states require evidence from witnesses or evidence of bodily injury to the women concerned and to really proving the case, the victim must provide evidence from a physician proving that a woman has had recent sexual intercourse and for such prove, the woman must be examined within 24 hours after the rape. Still on the investigation, lawyers delve into the sexual life of the victim, asking about her past experiences of sex and along the line, the jury may conclude that the women willingly consented to the sexual intercourse moreso if she had sexual experiences in the past.

These are part of the trauma and agonies that victims, mostly females especially teenagers, have to face in order to get justice which might even elude them eventually. These difficulties in proving the case and search for justice are not only peculiar to Nigeria alone. It is a worldwide phenomenon. Perhaps, this is why some countries have changed their laws on rape which now makes it more difficult for the defendant to argue that the victim consented to have sex and not raped. It has also been discovered during investigation that some of the men (not in Nigeria ) commit rape for sexual pleasure. Infact, in many cases, rape is an antisocial act in which men who fear and hate a particular woman want to prove their power and domination by humiliating and hurting them.

To this end, in the 1970s, because of the alarming increase in the crime, local communities in America created Rape Crisis Centres to offer counseling to rape victims most of whom were depressed after being attacked. These Rape Crisis Centres encouraged victims to report the crime to the police. Besides the emergency created centres, various groups, including universities, came out with their own emergency and temporary assistance by offering instructions on rape prevention.

In Niger State, particularly in Suleja town, many rape cases have been recorded in the past few months. Worried by the upsurge, wife of the governor of the state, Hajiya Jummai Babangida Aliyu, took the case to the National Assembly where she conferred with former speaker, House of Representatives, Mrs. Patricia Olubunmi Etteh, on how to find immediate and lasting solution to the menace. The former speaker looked into the matter with dispatch. It is not however known how far the case has been handled now at the lower chambre after the exit of Etteh.

On the part of Niger State government, however, many steps have been taken to stem the crime in the state, especially in Suleja which is the flash point. The state attorney general and commissioner for justice, Mr Adamu Usman, said government had intervened by setting up a committee to look into the reasons for the upsurge of the crime in the state particularly in Suleja. The committee, which comprises the chief judge, the commissioner for justice, the state commissioner of police, a magistrate and a DPO, discussed the matter extensively and discovered that the root cause of the matter can be traced to street hawking especially by the teenagers which is attributed to poverty and that most of those behind the crime are criminally minded. The committee found that most men involved are old enough to even be grand fathers of their victims.

Such old men, especially those infected with HIV virus, believe that if they have sex with a teenager, they will be cured automatically. The attorney general said because of the difficulties in dispensing justice against culprits and the slow pace of getting redress in the court, the state ministry of justice is revisiting the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) aimed at conferring powers on the magistrate courts to try rape cases instead of in the past where only High Courts are empowered. This is in a way to get speedy trial.

He said in Suleja town alone, about 14 rape related cases had been taken over by the director public prosecution (DPP) for immediate investigation and prosecution. Usman also revealed that a stakeholders meeting involving Nigeria Magistrates Association, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Niger State chapter, the chief judge and himself (attorney general) had met and resolved that all cases involving rape should be given accelerated hearing for quick dispensation of such cases. Similarly, the state government has directed that the Suleja General Hospital should be strengthened so that victims of rape are given free medication especially those who cannot afford the payment. Usman pointed out that, within three months (August-October 2007), not less than fifteen cases of rape have been reported in Suleja alone.

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