By Olawale Ajimotokan
The FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has called for castration of rapists as a deterrent for the increasing menace of rape in the nation, particularly among minors.
Aliyu proposed the stiffer penalty in Abuja, during the distribution of palliative items to the leadership of FCT National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) FCT chapter and Nigeria Football Association of Coaches FCT chapter.
She affirmed that the castrated offenders should also be made to roam the streets and remain inactive.
“We are also pushing for serious institutional framework that will ensure that justice is done. It is not enough to just jail such person, definitely punishment like castration will do. When we kill them, they die and not remembering anything, therefore they should be castrated and roam the streets and remain inactive,” she said.
The minister revealed that the FCT Administration was working in concert with security agencies and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP) to push for the institutional framework that would ensure justice is served.
He stressed that members of the community would be engaged in the battle against rape especially of minors.
The minister described sexual violence of minors as heinous crime. She insisted that death penalty is not the best punishment for offenders, arguing that when a society chooses to kill such offenders, they die without remembering the crime they have committed against humanity.
“We will involve every member of the community in this battle against rape. Just recently, we were in search of one offender, and definitely we will nip it in the bud. And in conjunction with all the security outfits, NAPTIP, in the FCT, we are on the watch, and for any offender that we get, we will take it to any length to ensure that he is not fit to live,” she vowed.
She also used the occasion to appeal to the leaders to ensure that the palliative items get to the vulnerable, assuring that in no distance time Nigeria would be free from COVID-19 pandemic.
Responding, the President of FCT Council of National Council of Women Societies, Hajia Hadiza Umar, thanked the FCT Administration for the kind gesture, just as she assured that the items would be distributed among widows in the society.
However, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) FCT Chapter received 1000 bags of 5kg rice and 1000 bags of condiments, National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), FCT, 1000 bags of 5kg rice and 1000 bags of condiments, while Nigerian Football Coaches Association, FCT chapter, 80 bags of 5kg rice and 80 bags of condiments.
