More than 100 cases of sexual assault are reported in just one state
each month, yet only a handful of suspects are ever prosecuted, Phillip
Obaji writes for
The Guardian UK.
When 14-year-old Amina got married last year, the occasion was solemn.
Rather than the flamboyance that often characterises Nigerian nuptials
this was a subdued affair, attended only by a few family members and
close friends.
The
bride and groom knew each other, but they had not been in a
relationship. Rather Amina, not her real name, was marrying one of three
men who had gang-raped her in her village when she was 13 years old.
Usaini Ja’afar and his accomplices had confessed to the crime under
interrogation by the Hisbah board, a religious police force responsible
for the enforcement of Sharia Law in the northern Nigerian state of
Kano. He pleaded for forgiveness and offered to marry Amina so as to
escape punishment. Amina’s father agreed and the men were allowed to
walk free.
"I decided to temper justice with mercy," said Amina's father,
explaining his decision not to press charges against the men who
assaulted his daughter. "I allowed him to marry the girl because our
consultations with our Malams [Islamic clerics] showed that there is
nothing wrong about that."
Salahuddeen Armayau, who heads the Hisbah board, said the wedding had
taken place last year, adding that the board had approved of the union
because “the boy said he was willing to clear his mess, and even the
victim’s father gave his blessing”.
The marriage, which has been condemned by human rights activists, is
just one example of how rapists are escaping justice in northern
Nigeria’s commercial capital.
In a state where more than 100 cases of rape are reported each month,
only a handful suspects are ever prosecuted. Authorities say the
majority of rape allegations are settled before they ever reach court.
Sometimes the accused get off by asking respected members of the
community to testify on their behalf; sometimes they offer the family
money in return for dropping the charges; sometimes they marry their
victims. Even if charges are pressed, it can be hard to prosecute rape
offences
"Some of the victims are shy of speaking publicly about their ordeal in
the hands of their rapists for fear of being stigmatised," said Agafi
Kunduli, a prominent Nigerian human rights activist. The police cannot
prosecute without witnesses and this is one major reason why many
rapists walk free."
Police officers have even been accused of demanding bribes from women before arresting rape suspects.
"Some victims do not trust the police,” said an officer in Abuja who
once worked in Kano. "We cannot blame them because even policemen are
also involved in this," he said, referring to the fact that a number of
Kano police officers have themselves been accused of rape.
In 2014, a police officer and four others were arrested for allegedly
gang-raping a 17-year-old old at gunpoint. Last year, another officer
was alleged to have raped a seven-year-old girl at police quarters in
Kano. Neither officer has yet been prosecuted.
Even in the case of rape and murder, offenders often avoid jail
sentences. Murder victims include a 22-year-old pregnant woman who died
after being gang-raped in her home early this year and a newlywed woman
who was killed by at least one rapist in Sha’iskawa village, north of
Kano state. No one has yet been prosecuted in either case.
Until last year, the maximum sentence for rape in Kano was two years, with the option of paying a fine instead. After an outcry, the government introduced a minimum sentence of 14 years life sentence in late 2015.
There is no crime of rape under Sharia law, which runs parallel to the
criminal justice system in Kano, but having sex outside of marriage
carries a sentence of death by stoning if the defendant is married or
100 lashes if they are not. In practice, however, the sentence is seldom
enforced.
Women’s rights activists have called on authorities to do more to
protect women and girls from sexual violence, and to ensure that rapists
face justice. They say marriage should not be used as a way to escape
justice.
"We just have to keep encouraging victims to speak," said Kunduli. "No
rapist should be allowed to go scot-free, even when he decides to marry
the victim."
Human rights lawyer, Eno Edet, said that the legal requirements to
proving sexual assault needed rethinking, as they did not take into
account the particular sensitivities involved in reporting rape.
"Law makers should sit down, speak to victims, and put themselves in
their shoes," said Edet, who has worked with a number of women who have
been sexually assaulted. "The police should take their work seriously
because rape changes lives"
