- Culprits in the Kano and Lagos rape incidents should be severely punished
Two recent instances of reported rape further highlighted the depth of the social problem. In Kano, an extreme paedophile is in the news. In Lagos, secondary school students made the headlines for scandalous sexual misbehaviour.
Expectedly, there is public outrage over the reported rape of a six-month-old baby in Kano State. It may well be a record of sorts, but certainly not a positive one. It is reflection of the gravity of the incident that the wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, and the Emir of Kano, Mallam Muhammad Sanusi II, demanded that the rapist should be lawfully punished.
These high-profile figures unambiguously condemned the rape of baby Khadijat Bashir, now eight months old, by 30-year-old Muktakar Muhammad. Mrs. Buhari, who visited the baby at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, on May 6, described the act as inhuman. The Emir of Kano, who visited the hospital before the First Lady, urged security agencies and the state government to ensure that the culprit was brought to book.
More importantly, it is reassuring that the information commissioner, Muhammad Garba, said in a statement: “Governor Ganduje has directed the state Ministry of Justice to handle the matter properly by ensuring that it is delivered to the letter. Whoever is involved in this sordid sexual crime will be prosecuted under the relevant provisions contained in the Kano State Penal Code amendment law referred to as the ‘Principal Law’ as amended under Section 283.”
What the raped baby experienced was conveyed by an update on her treatment by the health commissioner, Kabiru Ibrahim Getso: “She was initially admitted at the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital where she stayed for three weeks receiving treatment and she was treated for rape and other associated medical condition like malnutrition.”
This case should be taken to a logical conclusion, meaning the rapist should be punished for this outrageous sexual misconduct. The baby victim deserves justice.
Talking of justice for rape victims, no less a person than the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Idiat Adebule, who oversees the state’s education ministry, stressed that “acts of recklessness such as reported in the case under investigation are totally unacceptable and would not be tolerated.” The case of group rape involving final-year secondary school students in Ikoyi, Lagos, was serious enough; the intervention by a government official of her status reinforced its seriousness.
On May 3, female students of Falomo Senior High School, who had just finished their final exam, were reportedly targeted by male students of Ireti Grammar School, Ikoyi. Four students of Ireti Grammar School were arrested by the police, prompted by the Lagos State Government.
An eye witness account said: “I see the most unreal thing. It is actually a boy trying to force himself on a girl with his trousers partly down and the boys are cheering him on… I see another group and this time they have cornered one of the girls who fell while running from them. I see her kicked down… and then a guy takes a pair of scissors in his hands and with one swoop tears her skirt from the bottom and also a part of the black spandex shorts she has on underneath.”
The narrator continued: “… he proceeds to push himself into her through her back. His trousers are open too and another one tries to do same from the front. As this is going on, the crowd of boys is wild with frenzy, cheering the two boys on, while grabbing at her hair, breasts and she is fighting for dear life.” It is disturbing that the actors in this wild drama were secondary school students.
Rape is unacceptable, and should be severely punished. The authorities need to send a clear signal that would act as a deterrent.
