CHILD ABUSE IN NIGERIA

Shame and embarrassment washed over the faces of Fred Omoke and his wife Eunice the day their son’s school principal invited them to his office to tell them he had been sexually harassing some of his female classmates.

He usually lured them into the toilet, the stern looking principal said, and raised their skirts up to fondle their privates. Up to five girls had reported him to the school authorities, with one claiming he had used his sexual organ to penetrate her.

Their son, Emeka, is just 15.

In recent times, Nigerians have complained of an increasing rate at which children are being sexually abused by adults. While the rate at which paedophiles target preys is one aspect to worry about, another disturbing trend is when children are abused by fellow children or teenagers.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a child is sexually abused every two minutes. Also in every 10 homes, one person is involved in child sexual abuse. WHO also stated that 90% of child sexual abusers are persons the child loves and trusts, while 95% of the children abused are acquainted with the abuser.

The impact of sexual abuse can range from no apparent effects to very severe ones. Typically, children who experience the most serious types of abuse which is abuse involving family members and high degrees of physical force exhibit behaviour problems ranging from separation anxiety to post-traumatic stress disorder. In extreme cases, it could lead to death of the victim or a permanent organ failure.

A recent trending story of a 14-year-old boy who raped a 9-year old girl in Lagos repeatedly until she sustained injuries which led to her death is one that caused an uproar among Nigerians. Before her untimely death, the deceased was a Primary 3 pupil of Fulfilled Greenland School, Ikorodu.

Similarly, in the Surulere area of Lagos, a case was reported at the Aguda Police Station two months ago of an 8-year-old girl who was raped by her landlord’s 16-year-old son. She sustained some internal injuries in the process and her father had to be restrained by the police for beating the boy and his father severely.

Getting to the roots

Experts have advised that to curb the problem, the things children are exposed to at home and through the media must conform with good moral standards.

“The fundamental problems here are the issues surrounding our socialisation,” said Kate Ibeanusi, a human rights activist and Senior Programme Officer for PRAWA. “The things children see and hear is what forms the mindset of sexual abuse. Some of them innocently go out to experiment what they have seen adults doing or what they have watched on the TV. It is a societal problem where boys are made to feel that girls are at the receiving end of sexual abuse and they can have their way with them.”

Although there are thousands of reported cases of child sexual abuse in Nigeria yearly, the number of unreported instances is far greater because the children are afraid to tell anyone what has happened and the legal procedure for validating an episode is difficult.

However, when such cases are reported even if the culprit is a child, the Nigerian constitution still has provisions for punishing such offenders.

Speaking on the provisions of the Nigerian constitution for prosecuting offenders in such crimes, Vitalis Udoji, a human rights lawyer, said a 14-year-old boy can be prosecuted and punished for rape. “The same sentence that would be given to someone above 18 applies to him but not the capital punishment because he cannot be sentenced to death,” he said. “Such cases are above the jurisdiction of a magistrate court. What happens here is that the report will be sent to the Directorate of Public Prosecution for advice and if there is a case to answer, the case will be transferred to the high court.”

He also added that instead of a maximum security prison, such an offender will be sent to a Remand Home which is where offenders below the age of 18 are kept.

To address this problem of young children sexually abusing other children, Mrs Ibeanusi said parents have a huge role to play and have to pass on the right messages on to their children. “Our standards for raising children have to change,” she said. “We need to teach boys to respect girls and teach girls to hold up and not feel that they can be pushed around. This is a wake up call for everyone to see that the seeds we are sowing are not the right seeds.”

For Mr and Mrs Omoke, their fear is that their son would not be sent to prison or the Remand home as the case may be as parents of the abused girls have vowed to prosecute the case.

Credits: TELEGRAPH