The Senate yesterday approved the removal of a two-month Statute of Limitation on the prosecution of rape offenders as contained in the Criminal Code Act.
The Senate also endorsed a proposal that kidnappers should be jailed for life as against the provision 10 years imprisonment contained in the current law.
This position of the upper chamber was sequel to its consideration of a Bill, which sought to delete the Statute of Limitation on defilement and provide for life imprisonment for kidnapping in the Criminal Code Act.
The Bill titled: “A Bill for an Act to amend the Criminal Code Act CAP C38 LFN 2004 to delete the Statute of Limitation on defilement, increase in punishment for the offences of kidnapping, remove gender restrictions in the offence of rape and for related matters, 2019,” was sponsored by the Senator representing Lagos Central, Oluremi Tinubu.
Senator Tinubu, in her lead debate, said the amendment being sought was to “delete portions of Sections 218 and 221, amend the definition of rape as contained in Section 357 and increase punishment for the offence of kidnap in Section 364.”
According to her, the globally accepted aims of criminal law and the criminal justice system include deterrence, retribution, restoration, and rehabilitation of offenders. She said that the criminal justice system ought to deliver substantial justice and closure to the victim, the offender and the state. “Where a law fails to achieve any of these, it is inherently faulty, hence the need for amendment,” Tinubu said. She noted that Section 218 of the Criminal Code provided that anyone who had unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 13 or attempted same would be guilty of a felony and liable to life imprisonment or 14 years imprisonment respectively.
“My grouse however, is with the proviso that prosecution of the offender must be commenced within two (2) months after the offence is committed.
“What this does, is impose a statute of limitation on prosecution of these offences.
“This bar to prosecution negates the principles of natural law, equity and good conscience,” she lamented.
She insisted that Section 218 of the Code is not tenable in a country like Nigeria where investigations into cases of rape often take longer than two months.
“Considering the shortage of police personnel, relative to our population as prescribed by international standards, the two months limitation is unlikely to be met at all,” she said.
She added that with the development and innovation in forensic technology and the accessibility or otherwise of such infrastructure in Nigeria, rushing investigations in order to commence prosecution within two months would lead errors.
“In the event that the Police proceed to prosecute outside the two months, all that it will take to dispel the entire charge is a challenge to the jurisdiction of the court, on the basis that it was brought outside of the time allowed by law,” she said.
According to her, “Section 221 suffers a similar fate wherein it provides that where a person has or attempts carnal knowledge of a girl, being of or above the age of thirteen and under the age of sixteen, an ‘idiot or imbecile’, he shall be liable to imprisonment for a period of two years provided that the prosecution is commenced within two months after the offence is committed.”
She said that the proposed amendment seeks life jail for the offence of kidnapping.
Tinubu said: “Section 364 proffers a punishment of imprisonment for a term of ten years where a crime of kidnap is established. For avoidance of doubt, as defined by the Act, kidnap is unlawful imprisonment of any person to prevent him from applying to a court for his release or from disclosing to any person where he is imprisoned.
“Simply put, stealing a living, breathing human. Curiously, the Act provides a term of twenty-one years for robbery and death for armed robbery. Why is the punishment for stealing property and replaceable things higher than what is obtainable when you steal a human being?
“The frequency of kidnap across the Federation and its resulting trauma, not to mention the number of lives lost to the crime, make it imperative to review our laws with a view to ensuring appropriate punishment for perpetrators and deterrence for would-be perpetrators.
“Thus, this bill proffers a life sentence for persons found guilty of kidnapping.”
Senators in their contributions supported the Bill.
