RAPE victims converged on the National Assembly complex in Abuja yesterday to press parliamentarians to accelerate passage of the Sexual Offences Bill that would punish men who violate women. Nigeria has some of the most lax sexual offences laws in Africa as certain parts of the penal code permit men top beat their wives. Also, in July last year, the Nigerian Senate approved a bill sponsored by former Zamfara State governor Ahmed Yerima, that would recognise child brides as adults, effectively legalising marriages to minors. Senator Yerima, who himself married a 13-year old Egyptian girl in 2010, has long been an advocate of child marriages, claiming it is Islamic and sanctioned by the Koran. In December last year, he divorced his 17 Egyptian bride and married a new 15 year old girl but because no law in Nigeria forbids it, he had not committed any crime. Enraged at the impunity with which children are molested and rape is carried out, women's rights campaigners introduced a bill to the National Assembly but it has been a subject of debate for the last two years with no progress. Yesterday, hundreds of women stormed parliament, demanding its passage, with some of them in tears as they recounted their ordeals. Some lawmakers too, particularly the women, fought back tears yesterday as they listened to the pathetic stories of the rape victims. Several of the victims took part in a mock tribunal/court proceeding on sexual and gender based violence, anchored by the National Assembly Women Affairs Committee and the Legislative Advocacy Coalition for Violence in Nigeria. Many of them painfully recalled how they were sexually assaulted by men, who were old enough to be their fathers. They also recalled how their efforts to seek redress in courts were frustrated because of weak laws against such crime or a total lack of such laws. These violated women, who covered their faces when they gave details of how they were sexually assaulted, urged the female lawmakers to save other ladies from sexual assault. Senator Oluremi Tinubu representing Lagos Central and Senator Chris Anyanwu from Imo East, who received the distraught women, described rape as the most wicked crime against womenfolk.
Both senators vowed to use the legislative machinery available to them to ensure that relevant bills, which seek to protect women and children against violence, are passed before the end of the current legislative year. Dr Joy Ezeilo, the founding director of Women Aid Collective, said the purpose of the mock tribunal/court was to spotlight cases of gender-based violence in Nigeria. She added that the organisers also wanted to use the event to raise the voices of the victims and survivors to take urgent action on the appropriate laws that would protect women and vulnerable groups. Late last year, Nigerian Islamic group Muslim Rights Concern, expressed support for the controversial under-age marriage law, saying it is scriptural. In most countries of the world, sex with a minor is regarded as statutory rape and children's rights campaigners are arguing for similar laws in Nigeria. They are, however, likely to face stiff opposition from hardline Islamic clerics, who claim their religion allows for a girl to be married once she hits puberty.
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