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GOVERNOR’S WIFE EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER RAPE OF MINORS Posted: 15-Mar-2010 [14:40:51]

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The wife of Imo Governor, Mrs. Chioma Ohakim, has expressed concern over the rising wave of minors’ rape in the state.

Ohakim told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York recently that the victims’ families often refrained from reporting the crime because of the fear of stigmatisation of the victims.

She said that the Imo Government, in collaboration with women groups, was conducting studies on rape cases, with a view to prosecuting offenders.

Ohakim, who is in New York for the 54th Session of UN Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW), pledged that she would ensure that offenders were prosecuted and punished.

``Rape is becoming a common thing in Imo State, where some men are on the rampage raping infants of three years.

``There is a recent case in court. I took the man the court and I have assured the people that I will ensure that the man gets the maximum sentence for raping a three-year-old child.

Ohakim, nonetheless, advised victims of rape not to keep mute and called for a change in people’s attitude toward the victims of sexual violence.

``There is the stigma that goes with rape. The cultural thing is that once a girl has been raped, men will not seek the hands of such a girl in marriage.

``Parents are now covering up such crime. Without lodging reports on rape cases, we cannot get the correct statistics but we are keeping record of the few we have and we will publish it before long,’’ she said.

Mrs. Ineh Nnadi, the Chairperson of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) in Imo, said that the group was soliciting more stringent punishment for offenders.

``We are following it up by asking our members to go around with the police and be at the vanguard of ending violence against women,’’ she said.

Nnadi pledged that the group would ensure that all matters involving violence against women and girls were not suppressed.

She said that one of the factors limiting the campaign against sexual violence was that the perpetrators of the ``heinous crime are not given the maximum punishment.

``We have a grouse with the conditions for proving the guilt of a man charged with such offence.

``We are asking for a review of our criminal law so that these things will fall in line with modern trends,’’ Nnadi said.