On the morning of 24 October 2014, 20-year-old Jane *(not real name), was happy to set out on a trip to attend her uncle’s wedding in Kogi State. By the end of that day, her crisis-free life had taken a traumatic turn — she was gang-raped by three men somewhere in Kogi State.
“There was terrible traffic on the way especially around Okene, we ended up getting to Lokoja around 7:30 pm. I boarded a bike that was to take me to the house, but he (motorcycle rider) took me to the bush where two other men were already waiting,” Jane told the West African Pilot News.
That was her first time in the state and she was not familiar with the route. She knew something was not right because they had ridden for a long time.
“I asked him where we were going and he said the other road was bad so he’s taking the better road,” she said. “I already knew I was in trouble. I thought about jumping-off the bike, but I could not.”
According to Jane, she was taken to an isolated area in a dense bush where two men were waiting.
“They dragged me down from the bike, took my phone, some money I had on me and stripped me. I fought and screamed, two out of the three-hit me. One threatened to stab me if I made any noise. They slapped and punched me while raping me. When they left, it took some minutes to realise it was not a dream. I remember standing up and falling back down. It took a while to get to the main road.”
Jane told The West African Pilot News that her family came with policemen after she called them with the phone of a man who helped her. Now 26-year-old, She noted that she neither got justice nor support from the authorities.
“They (police) came to where it happened. I narrated what happened to them, none took note or any recording. The police told me to thank God I wasn’t killed because that place was a usual spot for a murder. And that was it; no follow up from them, no investigation.”
Nigeria’s broken institutions breeding low conviction for sexual violence
There have been mass protests across Nigeria in the wake of the increase in rape cases in the country. Activists say the country is at a point where there is no safe place for women and children – they are at risk of being preyed on by abusers at home and outside. With anger, protesters have called for castration of rapists and declaration of state of emergency on rape.
Due to poor data collection and victims not reporting sexual assault, Nigeria has no up-to-date record of these crimes. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2017, there were 2,279 reported cases of rape and indecent assault and about 1,164 reported cases of unnatural offences, such as anal sex. Also in the same year, the police reported zero conviction and one state reported no case of indecent assault.
A national survey carried out in 2014 cited by Women at Risk International Foundation reveals that one in four females reported experiencing sexual violence in childhood with approximately 70 per cent reporting more than one incident of sexual violence. About 24.8% of females ages 18 to 24 years experienced sexual abuse prior to age 18 of which 5.0% sought help, with only 3.5% receiving any services.
The Minister of Women Affairs Dame Pauline Tallen said there were hundreds of cases in court that have not been addressed and that for every case, there were 10 unreported cases.
Some say Nigeria’s ineffectual law enforcement and judicial institutions and patriarchal culture have discouraged many victims from reporting sexual violence. Some victims fear being blamed and stigmatised. For some who report, they do not get justice due to factors ranging from dearth of support for victims, deficient evidence, poor investigation by the police, and slow judicial process.
“I want to call it a deafening silence from state governments and all institutions. I am not going to be looking at the police alone. The judiciary has failed and continues to fail,” Ms. Pricilia Usiobaifo, Executive Director of Braveheart Initiative, told The West African Pilot News. “The manner the society has been handling the issue has moved beyond tiredness to outrage.”
Jane’s situation like many others across the country where suspects cannot be identified by victims, most times do not get investigated. Experts say even when local police stations intend to investigate, they are often incapacitated by paucity of technology and funds. Investigations that would involve high technology including mobile phone tracing and forensics examination, often require a special team to be deployed from police headquarters – located several kilometers from the crime scene.
Ms. Usiobaifo, whose organisation’s support for victims has resulted in securing 15 convictions of perpetrators, including six serial rapists, said the entire system has failed. Narrating a situation where sexual assault victims are extorted at hospitals and asked by the police to fund investigation, she said even if a person gets raped by a suspect that that cannot be identified, the victim should have access to support.
“So direct service provision is one way we are failing our victims. When assaults happen, do you have safe space for the victims to go?” Usiobaifo asked. “We have spent years advocating for people to speak out, the ones who spoke out, what services have been rendered to them?”
The call for stronger laws and stiffer punishment for rape is seen by some as non-critical. They believe Nigeria has enough laws to deal with rapists, but noted that the absence of a political will, prevents existing laws from taking effect.
One such laws is the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan. The VAPP Act is said to be the most comprehensive law prohibiting violence against persons. Apart from recognising that males can be raped, it introduces minimum punishment, unlike the Codes which have maximum penalties for violence. It is a federal law that can only be implemented in states that domesticate it.
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila said 27 states were yet to domesticate the VAPP Act. States that have not domesticated the Act, use either the Penal or Criminal Codes. Experts say religious and cultural factors limit the scope of the Codes, which makes securing justice for victims of sexual violence difficult.
Abiola Kolawole, a legal practitioner in Lagos, told the West African Pilot News that the problem was not the law but poor enlightenment and availability of equipped hospitals where victims could get examined properly. He said because many people do not know what to do when they are raped, they end up doing what makes it difficult to build a case and successfully secure convictions in court.
“A judge will convict based on evidence. If a rape victim washes off before getting examined for evidence, then the case may be difficult to prove. A victim is not supposed to wash or touch any part of the body. Just go to a clinic and they examine you. The result of the check will help build a concrete case in court.”
Rape is a crime people should get justice for. When people cover up rape or do not report, the alleged perpetrator is given another opportunity to rape again, instead of being kept behind bars for a long time and rid the society of the criminals, Mr. Kolawole said.
Ms. Usiobaifo does not believe castrating rapists would end sexual assault. She wants perpetrators to be put in jail for life. Mr Kolawole wants the stipulated penalties to be imposed. However, they agree that effort to end sexual assault in the country requires a holistic approach that would address the loopholes in various institutions.
“For some years, I was uncertain about a lot of things, I lost my sense of purpose, I was depressed, I was angry with God and with men. Rape is a terrible experience. I am thankful that I am alive, but that rape incident took a lot from me,” Jane said.
(Editor’s Note: Victim’s real name withheld to protect her from stigmatization.)
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