Nigerian Prelate Calls for Collaborative Efforts to Curb Crime of Rape

He adds, “Rape is an intrinsically evil act that is even more grave and condemnable when inflicted on children either by parents (incest) or those who exercise any form of authority over them especially those responsible for their education.”

Referencing the Nigeria Police Force statistics that indicate 717 recorded rape cases, the Archbishop of Lagos says the high number of these cases is “an attestation that the society was fast plunging into the abyss of immorality.”

Increasing cases of rape have prompted protests in Nigeria’s streets with some citizens taking on social media under #WeAreTired to demand urgent action and justice for victims.

As a result, Governors in the 36 states of Nigeria declared a state of emergency over rape and other gender-based violence against women and children in the West African country.

The lamentations of the Archbishop of Lagos come days after Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama of Abuja decried the “heinous crime of rape” and demanded legal action against the perpetrators.

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Archbishop Adewale of Lagos has called on various stakeholders in society to “work together to quell this social malaise before it consumes everyone.”

“Parents, religious bodies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) must deliberately teach the boy-child respect for women; concerned government agencies must pay attention to suggestive contents that sexualize girls in musical videos as well as enforce more strict restrictions on pornographic materials that are so easily available on the internet,” Archbishop Adewale says.

He adds, “Each person must also resist the common view that people must satisfy whatever urge or desire they have as if we are lower animals that have no control over their desires and urges. Everyone must also advocate for justice for victims of rape and severest possible punishment for rapists.”

In the report, the Local Ordinary of Lagos calls on the security forces to “make justice for victims of rape a priority” and invites “health workers across the country to join hands with other relevant professionals to offer care and necessary counselling to victims of rape in order to help them overcome the trauma of the sad experience.”

To the country’s Members of Parliament, the Nigerian Archbishop says, “Find ways of ensuring that all States in the country domesticate the Child Rights Act in order to give full legal protection and guard against abuse of children, especially the girl child.”