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Tag: Sexual Offences

  • ‘Why forensic report is key in sexual offences cases’

    ‘Why forensic report is key in sexual offences cases’

    Lagos Chief Judge, Justice Kazeem Alogba has said that forensic report is very key in ensuring that justice is done in matters of sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence cases.

    He, therefore, urged  investigators and other stakeholders in the justice sector to ensure that forensic and other scientific report brought to court in rape and other defilement cases are water-tight and effective.

    Justice Alogba stated this while responding to questions from journalists during a two-day training of Judges and Magistrates on “Best Practices for Adjudicating Sexual and Gender-Based Violence cases in Court” . It was organised by the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA) in collaboration with International IDEA and Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (ROLAC) and held at Radisson Blu Hotel, GRA, Ikeja.

    Justice Alogba said adjudication on sexual offences and other forms of gender-based violence is not a matter for the judiciary alone but more of Police who are investigators and forensic reports by medical personnels..

    “This is a multi-sectoral affair. The Police is involved, the social welfare, the Judiciary and so many other sectors that are inter-connected in dealing with that social menace.

    Read Also: Sexual Offences Court: Olaleye approaches Appeal Court for redress

    “However, I think it is about much more of forensics. We should improve more in the area of forensic so that when cases are brought to court, they are almost adjudicated in terms of facts that would be placed before the courts.

    “Scientific facts, because in all these cases, defilement, rape and all the rest of them, we need clear forensic evidences, medical evidences. Once these are rendered, the case is done.

    “Or else, the society would blame the judge. Oh,we know that girl was raped! Oh they have given the judge bribe! not knowing that there are certain things the law requires you to look for. Once they are not there, you cannot convict.

    “We cannot rule on the altar of sentiments. It has to be in accordance with the provisions of the law. It is a professional misconduct for a judge to rule or decide on matter on the altar of personal sentiments. We don’t do it”, he asserted.

    “Like I said, it is just for us to keep our heads straight, keep our hands clean and do our job according to the law.

    “I want to say that we are largely misunderstood. But one thing that still makes me happy is that at the end of every case, the person who wins would say the judiciary is doing very well, the person who least would say the judiciary is not doing well . That is the natural way of life.”, he stated.

    The Executive Secretary of DSVA, Mrs Titilola Vivour -Adeniyi, who remarked that the judiciary is the last hope for the common man, agreed with the Chief Judge that  the  judiciary rely heavily on the work of the investigators and the prosecutors to deliver justice to survivos.

    Mrs Vivour-Adeniyi explained that this is why they continue to build the  capacities of the judges, magistrates, police, and prosecutors adding, ” it is also important that we engage the judiciary on these issues so that all of us are on the same page.

    “Of course with the work being done by  the specialised courts, we are hopeful for quick dispensation of justice on sexual offences. We are looking at a situation whereby cases can be concluded within a year from when cases are filed at the high courts”, she said.

    Chairman, House Committee on Judiciary, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Ladi Ajomale stated that the house believed the issue of gender-based violence must be tackled wholesomely and that is why it accelerated an agency that would fight for and against those who are involved in gender-based violence.

    Hon, Ajomale said there are a lot of petitions that have been coming the way of the house of assembly.

    He promised that the State house of assembly would do its best to ensure that all cases of sexual violence are eliminated and there is widespread knowledge for people to stop such activity, most especially SGBV.

    He advised the judiciary, Judges and Magistrates to remain committed, focused and apply the rule of law in everything that they do, adding that they should “remain focused and oriented judges that could get the job done as it should especially when it comes to equity.

    “For the judges, I would  advise that they should keep up the good work and there is a lot of more work that needs to be done and we hope that going forward, the challenges that they are facing from the executive and the legislative arm, we would try to sort it out from our own end to ensure that they carry out justice appropriately.”

  • Ambode inaugurates special courts for corruption, sexual offences

    Ambode inaugurates special courts for corruption, sexual offences

    Governor Akinwummi Ambode of Lagos State Thursday inaugurated special courts for corruption, economic crimes and sexual offences with a charge judges to dispense justice fairly and speedily.

    He told the judges that through this partnership, “your voice to our call to give Lagos a special status of zero tolerance to crime will be achieved”.

    He spoke at the event which held at Rosaline Omotoso High Court Complex, Ikeja.
    Ambode who was represented by his deputy, Dr Idiat Adebule, also appealed to the bar to ensure swift and seamless prosecution of these offences.

    The governor believed that the creation of the special courts would assist in expeditious prosecution of economic and financial crimes and ensure that justice is attained by bringing offenders to justice without delay.

    Ambode noted that corruption constituted a major challenge to sustainable development of the country and has adversely affected the integrity, image and business confidence of prospective investors.

    He said it is proper to classify Lagos, over 20 million population, as one of the most populous  cities of the world ” and indeed the economic and financial capital of Nigeria and by extension of West Africa.

    “This naturally makes it the most susceptible to perpetrators of these crimes”.
    He said this was why the courts are being designated special courts to focus primarily on effective prosecution of these cases.

    He however pointed out that the goal to make Lagos State a safe place to live, visit and do business can further be achieved if these specialized courts operate as conceptualized “, he said.
    He said: ” these courts are an indication of our commitment at making Lagos uncomfortable for perpetrators of such offences and our judiciary, that has always led the vanguard at combating crimes in its own way, is resolved to discouraged same.

    Lagos state Chief Judge, Justice Opeyemi Oke in a welcome address, disclosed that four courts have been set aside as special courts and that as at date, there are over 500 cases of financial crimes and 600 sexual offences pending before the high courts in the state.

    She said the courts were set up following a directive from the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, to all heads of courts to dedicate some courts to determine corruption and economic crime cases.

    “We believe strongly that the special courts shall fast track the trial of these types of cases and encouraged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other relevant bodies like ICPC to expedite the investigation and prosecution of such cases”, she said.

    Justice Oke described sexual harassment and violence as serious threats and grave danger to women and children all over the world and a crime that has become an epidemic.

    She explained that the inauguration of the Special Offences and Sexual Offences courts was aimed at enlightening and informing the public of the special attention the federal and state courts are prepared to invest in the elimination of the heinous crimes against humanity.

    Wife of the Vice President, Mrs Oludolapo Osinbajo described as frightening of corruption and sexual offences cases in court.

    “The statistics quoted by the Chief Justice of Lagos is very frightening; it only speaks of half of the true picture.

    “Behind the figures are the faces of the affected women and girls as well as the men and boys.” Osinbajo said.

    Giving examples of real life scenarios of sexual violence,  Osinbajo said that victims of such offences should never be ignored.

    “We should not ignore the trauma and nightmare that sexual offences bring, let us not forget the girls not only in Nigeria but all over the world,” she said.

  • ‘Why Lagos opposes sexual offences bill’ 

    ‘Why Lagos opposes sexual offences bill’ 

    The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT)  was   conceived in September 2014 as a response to the high increase in report of Sexual and Gender Based violent offences in the state.

    Asides from increasing victim safety and offender responsibility by providing a cross jurisdictional response that is uniform in approach in Sexual and Gender Based Violence crimes across Lagos State, DSVRT is also mandated to review policies and laws on SGBV crimes. It is against this backdrop that we are opposing the Sexual Offences Bill 2014 already passed by the National Assembly is awaiting Presidential assent.

    While the Team considered the National Assembly incompetent to legislate on general law such as sexual offences in a Federation save for the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, we still find it compelling to bring to the fore, certain provisions in the Sexual Offences Bill 2014, which are considered offensive, obnoxious, inconsistent and likely to increase the incidences of sexual abuse in Nigeria.

    Therefore as Law officers and Ministers in the temple of justice who have obligation to safeguard the Rule of law and promote justice, we need to speak out to prevent the obnoxious provisions in the Bill from being assented to by the President.

    The Bill seeks to introduce a strange defence based on the innocent act of a child (referred to as deceit) and belief of the perpetrator that a child is above 18 years when he committed the act of defiling a child.

    Section 7(5) of  the  proposed  Bill   provides; “ It is  a  defence  to  a charge  of defilement of children under  the    section if  (a) It  is  proved  that  such  child, deceived  the  accused  person  into  believing  that  he  or  she  was  over  the  age  of  eighteen  years  at  the  time  of  alleged  commission  of  the  offence: and; (b) The  accused  person  reasonably  believed  that the  child  was  over  the  age  of  eighteen years.”

    Similar defence is provided for the offence of Attempted Defilement under Section 8 of the Bill. Likewise for the offence of Indecent act with Children in Section 10 of the Bill which provides  as follows;

    “It is a defence  to charge under this sub-section(1) if It  is  proved  that  such  child, deceived  the  accused  person  into  believing  that  he  or  she  was  over  the  age  of  eighteen  years  at  the  time  of  alleged  commission  of  the  offence: and; the  accused  person  reasonably  believed  that the  child  was  over  the  age  of  eighteen years.”

    “The belief referred to in sub-section (2) is to be determined having regard to all the circumstances, including the steps the accused person took to ascertain the age of the complainant”

    “The provisions of sub-section (2) shall not apply if the accused person is related to such  child  within the prohibited degrees of blood affinity”

    It is apparent that these provisions of the Bill are inconsistent with the interest and welfare of children contrary to the Child’s Right Act which provides in Section 1 that:  “In every action concerning a child, whether undertaken by   an individual, public or private body, institutions or service, court of law, or administrative or legislative authority, the best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration”.

    Furthermore Section 277 of the  Child’s Rights Act 2003 the word “child” means a person under the age of eighteen  years.  Therefore the distinction in   the  ages  of   children in Section 7 of the Bill is  irrelevant  and  should  be  expunged  because  the distinction can lead to an ambiguity and unnecessary uncertainty, especially having regard to the fact that this particular Bill if assented to will be keenly enforced by Communities, Civil Society Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations.

    Contrary to the provision of the Bill, Section 31 (1-3) of the Child’s Rights  Act  which  has  similar  provisions  in the Child’s Rights  Law  of Lagos  State  2007 provides that-

    (1) No person shall have sexual intercourse with a child.

    (2) A  person  who contravenes  the provision of  subsection(1) of  this section commits an offence of  rape and  is liable on conviction to imprisonment for life

    (3) Where a person is charged with an offence under this Section, it is immaterial that  the offender believed the person to be of or above the age of eighteen years, or  the sexual intercourse was with the consent of the child”.

    The Child’s Rights Act therefore provides that the paramount objective of the Act is to promote, protect and uphold the rights of every Nigerian child irrespective of age.  A person below 18 years old is a child under our legal system and therefore most times exempted from liability on the ground that these persons   may not understand the  nature/consequences of  their  act. Therefore, there should be no statutory defence for   sexual   offence against a child on the ground of purported deceit by the child and belief of the offender that the child was above 18 years. It is therefore suggested that this defence, should be completely expunged from the Bill.

    The Bill also seeks to introduce the offence of gang rape in section 9 of the Bill as follows:

    “Any person who commits the offence of rape or defilement under this Act in association with others is guilty of an offence called gang rape and is liable upon conviction to imprisonment for life”

    Whilst the Team is cognizant of the fact the introduction of this section is in response to the increase in reporting of gang rape in Nigeria, we are however of the opinion that this section may be problematic at the prosecution stage.

    The rule of drafting charges as stipulated by the Criminal Procedure Act provides that for  every  distinct offence   with  which  any  person  is  accused  there  shall  be  a  separate charge  and  every  such  charge  shall be tried  separately  except  as provided  in Section  155 .

    Section 155 painstakingly lists out the exceptional circumstances as follows:- “when more persons than one are accused of the same offence or of different offences committed in the same transaction or when a person is accused of committing an offence and another of abetting or being an accessory to or attempting to commit such offence or when a person is accused of any offence of theft criminal misappro-priation, criminal breach of trust and another of receiving or retaining or assisting in the disposal or concealment of the subject matter of such offence, they may be charged and tried together or separately as the court thinks fit.”

    Therefore, the offence of rape, such as murder cannot be charged jointly because of the difficulty in proving that each individual person committed the act and must therefore be charged separately in different counts but on the same charge sheet. Consequently, it is therefore suggested that this section be expunged from the Bill.

    The team also regrets to note that the Bill seeks to trivialize sexual offences in Nigeria by imposing smaller fines on offenders.  A case in point is Section 10 (5), which provides for the sum of N20,000 for the offence of indecent assault. While no amount can ever be sufficient for the victim, any amount imposed should, however, not appear to trivialise the offence and indeed undermine the intention of the Law. Otherwise, the purpose of the punishment section that is to serve as a deterence to others will be abused if it can easily be ”afforded” by affluent perpetrators. We, therefore, recommend that monetary sanctions provided for in the Bill should be amended to make it commensurate with the gravity of the offence.

    We appeal to the National Assembly to review the financial sanctions imposed in the Violence Against persons Act, 2015 for the same reasons as highlighted above. The highlighted unacceptable provisions of the Bill if not expunged or amended will encourage impunity in sexual offences and undermine the efforts of DSVRT, NGOs and CSOs involved in the fight against child abuse in Nigeria.

    We also intend to forward a Memorandum of our position to the Office of the President communicating our thoughts and suggested amendments that should be considered before Assent is given to the Sexual Offences Bill, 2014.

     

  • Lagos opposes sexual offences bill

    Lagos opposes sexual offences bill

    The Lagos State government has added its voice to the opposition to the controversial Sexual Offences Bill (2014), awaiting the assent of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The controversial bill is among the 46 bills hurriedly passed by the last Senate and forwarded to the President for his assent.

    Addressing a briefing in Lagos yesterday with members of the Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT), Solicitor General Lawal Pedro said there were certain provisions in the bill  considered “offensive, obnoxious, inconsistent and likely to increase the incidences of sexual abuse in Nigeria”.

    According to him, the state, which has been championing the fight against sexual violence opposed the bill because “it seeks to introduce a strange defence based on the innocent act of a child (referred to as deceit) and belief of the perpetrator that a child is above 18 years when he committed the act of defiling the child”.

    He contended that given this scenario, the National Assembly was incompetent to legislate on general laws, such as sexual offences in a federation save for the Federal Capital Territory.

    Pedro said the government would soon forward a memorandum containing “our thoughts and suggested amendments that should be considered before assent is given to the Sexual Offences Bill, 2014”.

    He said government would not hesitate to seek legal redress if the President went ahead to assent to the bill without first considering the amendments suggested.

  • Lagos faults Sexual Offences Bill

    Lagos State Government yesterday joined the fray over the Sexual Offences Bill 2014, which is, awaiting President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent.

    The bill is among the 46 passed by the last Senate within 10 minutes and sent for presidential assent.

    Addressing reporters in Lagos yesterday with members of the Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) , the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice Mr Lawal Pedro (SAN) said it contained certain provisions considered “offensive, obnoxious, inconsistent and likely to increase the incidences of sexual abuse”.

    The state, he said, which is against sexual violence, oppose the bill because “it seeks to introduce a strange defence based on the innocent act of a child (referred to as deceit) and belief of the perpetrator that a child is above 18 years when he committed the act of defiling the child”.

    Given this scenario, the National Assembly is incompetent to legislate on general laws, such as sexual offences in a federation save for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Pedro said.

    He said the government would soon send a memorandum containing “our thoughts and suggested amendments that should be considered before the president assents.”

    He said government would not hesitate to seek legal redress if the President goes ahead to assents the bill without considering the suggested amendments.

    Pedro said for instance Section 7(5) and other sub-sections of the bill, which listed when child defilement could be considered an offence and chargeable, were inconsistent with children’s interest and welfare as contained in the Child Rights Act.

    Section 277 of the Child’s Right Act 2003 described a child as a person under 18 contrary to the bill’s provision of 11.

    The distinction in the bill’s Section 7, he said, is irrelevant and should be expunged “because the  distinction can lead to an ambiguity and unnecessary uncertainty, especially having regard to the fact that this particular bill, if assented to, will be keenly enforced by communities, civil society organisations and non-govermental organisations”.

    Acknowledging the reasons advanced for the offence of gang rape in the bill, Pedro said the provision may become problematic during prosecution because of the rules for drafting charges stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Act.

    “The offence of rape like murder cannot be charged jointly because of the difficulty in proving that each individual person committed the act and must therefore be charged separately in different courts but on the same charge sheet. Consequently, it is therefore suggested that this section be expunged from bill,” he said.

  • Falana threatens legal action over Sexual Offences Bill

    Falana threatens legal action over Sexual Offences Bill

    Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana(SAN) has said that one of the 46 bills hurriedly passed into law by the last Senate cannot stand the test of time as it contained obnoxious provisions and discriminates against victims.

    While the new bill criminalised the defilement of children under 11 years, Falana noted that the minimum age of 18 years in the original Bill was in line with the provisions of the Child’s Rights Act, 2003 and  the Child’s Rights Convention of the United Nations which has been ratified by Nigeria.

    In a letter to nobel  laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka dated June 14, 2015, Falana and wife,Funmi accused the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Legal Matters for illegally removing the age of 18 years and replacing it with 11 years in the new bill.

    The erudite lawyer and his wife Funmi, who is the founder of Women Empowerment and Legal Aid (WELA) claimed to have confirmed  that the bill has not been forwarded to President Mohammadu Buhari for his assent as it has not been passed by  the House of Representatives.

    They  have however threatened legal action  if the bill is eventually passed into law with its obnoxious provisions.

    “We shall not hesitate to pray the Federal High Court to strike it down in view of Article 18(3) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights  (Ratification and Enforcement) Act (Cap A9) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 which has imposed a duty on the Government of Nigeria to “ensure the elimination of every discrimination against women and ensure the  protection of the rights of the woman and the child, as stipulated in international declarations and conventions”, as declared in the letter written to Prof. Wole Soyinka.

    The Falanas thanked Prof. Soyinka for drawing the nation’s attention to the odious provision of the Sexual Offences Bill in their letter.

    They stated in their letter to the nobel  laureate the defunct the Senate of the 7th National Assembly, during its valedictory session, did not pay any attention to then  provisions of the bill which was among the 46 bills hurriedly passed before their exit.

    They recalled that Senator Chris Anyanwu who sponsored the Sexual Offences Bill had  justified the urgent need to pass it to save our girls and women from sexual exploitation and molestation.

    “When the Bill was unanimously passed for a second reading by the Senate on November 21, 2013,  it sought to  prescribe a penalty of life imprisonment for the offence of defilement of children less than 18 years of age.

    “It also provided for compulsory documentation, supervision of sexual offenders and medical treatment for rape victims while it strengthened the weak protection offered victims and witnesses in trials for sexual offences.

    “The minimum age of 18 years in the original Bill was in line with the provisions of the Child’s Rights Act, 2003 and  the Child’s Rights Convention of the United Nations which has been ratified by Nigeria.

    “The Bill  was referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Legal Matters for further legislative work. It was that Committee that illegally removed the age of 18 years and replaced it with 11 years. The inserted clause is inconsistent with section 29(4)(a) of the Nigerian Constitution which provides that  “full age” means the age of 18 years and above.