JUST IN: House of Representatives rejects castration of rapists

By Abankula

Members of Nigeria’s House of Representatives have killed a motion seeking to recommend castration for rapists.

The House, at the plenary on Thursday, rejected the motion which was recommended by Mr James Faleke.

Faleke, representing Ikeja in Lagos had recommended that persons found guilty of rape should be castrated.

His motion came in the wake of rising cases of sexual violence in Nigeria and the national outrage the phenomenon has caused.

Faleke asked the Inspector General of Police to immediately probe rape cases as all other reported cases of violence against women.

The call was superfluous as the police had already taken up such investigations.

The police have also announced measures to strengthen their desks dealing with domestic violence all over the country.

In a statement Wednesday, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, ordered the immediate transfer of the investigations into the sexual assault and death of Miss Vera Uwaila Omozuwa from Benin to the Force headquarters, Abuja.

The IGP’s directive was sequel to the preliminary report from the team of investigators and forensic experts earlier deployed to assist the Edo State Police Command in the investigations into the unfortunate incident.

The DIG in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), DIG Anthony Ogbizi Michael, will henceforth supervise the investigation of the case.

In a similar vein, Adamu also ordered the immediate deployment of specialized investigators and additional investigation assets to all the Gender Desks Offices and the Juvenile Welfare Centres (JWC) across the country.

“This is to strengthen and enhance the capacity of the Units to respond to increasing challenges of sexual assaults and domestic/gender-based violence linked with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and other social ills within the country”, said a statement by Force Spokesman Frank Mba.