In addition to life jail, the Ekiti State Government, in collaboration with the office of Wife of the Governor, is making moves to amend the gender-based law to carry capital punishment such as medical castration of rapists and defilers.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that wife of the governor, Bisi Fayemi, is seeking amendment of the Gender Based Violence (Prohibition) Law, 2011 at the State House of Assembly, to deter perpetrators.
NAN also reports that a public hearing on the GBV amendment bill was held at the state House of Assembly on Thursday, October 10, 2019 in Ado-Ekiti.
At the public hearing, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Wale Fapohunda, said the amendment to the bill might include medical castration, compulsory psychiatric test and disqualification of offenders from benefiting from government’s social investment programmes.
“We plead with the Assembly to have expeditious and holistic consideration of the amendment to the bill, because it is to provide legal framework for the present administration’s zero tolerance for all forms of gender-based violence.
“The increasing cases of rape and defiling of little children in Ekiti require urgent attention.
“The amendment being sought may include imprisonment and medical castration of offenders, among others not stipulated in the existing law,” he said.
Mrs. Fayemi, in her address, said her office had, since 2018, been overwhelmed with complaints bordering on all forms of violence, particularly against women.
According to her, the amendment of the bill has become imperative to give the victims voices and for offenders to be held accountable.
She added that the worst form of injustice in any society was for offenders to be let off the hook without justifiable reasons, assuring that strengthening the law would ensure punishment for violators and allow people to take ownership.
“To make the law effective, we are going decentralise the referral centres and all the local governments will have one each. You don’t need to come to the state capital before lodging your complaints.
“The GBV management committee has been brought back to attend to complaints. I felt distressed to hear when we returned [to government] last year that the committee didn’t meet for four years after we had left.
“I’m not the owner of the law; it is for men and women in Ekiti. We only championed it. It is to protect us, our families and the society against all forms of discrimination so that we can all live life of respect and dignity.
“Violence against women keeps increasing in Ekiti. We appeal to the House to pass this law expeditiously,” Mrs Fayemi said.
The Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Funminiyi Afuye; and the Chairman, House Committee on Women Affairs, Mrs. Adekemi Balogun, said the law, when amended, would elevate gender issues to a human rights matter in the state.
Afuye added that there was the need for people to be proactive to ensure that gender-based violence was banished from Ekiti.
“Rape and defilement have become epidemic in our society. This bill will be given expeditious passage. Gender-based violence must not be tolerated in Ekiti.
“Our state must be a barometer to gauge how Nigeria is fighting the scourge and in doing this, we have to be proactive,” the Speaker said.
