Why rape is rising — NCWS

The National Council of Women Societies has attributed the upsurge of rape cases in Nigeria to lack of proper prosecution of offenders.

The National President of NCWS, Laraba Shoda, said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

Shoda said the rising cases of rape was because of the inability of security agencies to properly prosecute accused persons.

The NCWS president said advocacy and proper prosecution would curb the incessant cases of rape.

According to her, most rape victims get victimised when they report the cases and that is why most of them refuse to talk.

Shoda stated: “The victimisation starts from the security officers themselves in trying to force the victims to prove if there was consent of penetration.

“In Nigeria, it is very difficult to prosecute and for the victim to get justice for a case of rape, instead what is common is ridicule.

“The past weeks have been filled with sad stories of young girls and women and even babies being assaulted and raped across Nigeria.

“These include Vera Omozuwa in Edo State, Barakat Bello in Oyo State, both of whom died from the assault.

“A pregnant women was also said to have been raped and murdered in Benin. In April, an 18-year-old lady known as Jennifer was allegedly attacked and raped by a gang of five men in Kaduna.”

Shoda noted that the incidents had become too much and the law must take its cause.

She added: “The punishment for rape is said to be 21 years imprisonment and I doubt if anybody has been convicted for offences of rape and incest for that long in recent times.

”Honestly life imprisonment is not enough for the perpetrators of this heinous crime. Rape and violence against women has become a daily occurrence in the country.”