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FIDA: Culprits must pay for violenceagainst women, girls

Mrs. Grace Chima is the Chairperson of Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA), Ebonyi State chapter. In this interview with UCHENNA INYA, she speaks on increase in rape and defilement in the state, the victims and laws

Are you satisfied with the laws in this country against rape?

When we attended our last National meeting, people came up with the ideas that the laws should be amended, that it should be turned to death penalty; capital offences like armed robbery, kidnapping and murder, the punishment is death by hanging and that’s why that people are still afraid to commit such crimes.

Rape is even bail able and that is the most annoying part of it. One of the reasons this rape and defilement of a thing is still going on in this country is that stringent measures have not been taken.

In capital offences, nobody releases you from the day you are caught to the day you are convicted; from the day you are caught, you are taken to the police station, from there prison custody, from there, you face trial and if the person is condemned, that is it. You don’t even come for negotiation because you know, the government hearing it, is another thing. But for this one, rape is bail able and that’s why within one week, two weeks, you see lawyers filling their applications. It is terrible and I think we should start making it a capital offence the way murder, armed robbery and kidnapping are taken.

Come to think of it, rape is even worse than murder, armed robbery and kidnapping because it is like subjecting the victim into everlasting trauma. I think government has serious roles to play in curbing this issue of rape. Now, the VAPP laws are there; all this violence against women and girls are contained there but our problem is full implementation of this law. I have nev-er seen anybody convicted of this law and this is the problem we have. Stakeholders in the judicial sector should help us. This VAPP laws should be implemented, it will go a long way to help us.

Who are the victims of rape?

The funny aspect of rape is that all the victims are indigent people; people that cannot fight for themselves, people that cannot even afford the cost of getting justice in Nigeria because if you really want to get justice in Nigeria, you must have your lawyer, pay your lawyer any time that lawyer goes to court.

When this rape of a thing happens, relatives of the victims and the suspects will tell you that they want to settle the matter within themselves. How does FIDA see this?

We tell people that it is a crime against the state, there is no settlement in criminal matters. Rape is a criminal offence, so, you don’t settle that matter and that’s why we have embarked on series of sensitizations. Since this year, we have done many sensitization campaigns in different local governments. We go on radio to sensitize the people and do advocacy talks to let them know that the law frowns at it.

The law frowns against anyone trying to settle out of court, the law will go after you and you will be arrested if you do it. Whenever, a rape occurs, your duty is to report and police will do their jobs by investigating it. Then when we come into the matter, we will ensure that the victim gets justice, we will ensure that the culprit faces the full wrath of the loud.

How many cases has FIDA handled since your administration came up?

During the period of lockdown, we had many cases of rape. We had about 18 cases during the period of lockdown. But from January till date, we have more than 27 cases of rape in the state from different local governments.

I took my time to write them out, specified their local governments. During that lockdown, a liaison officer went to share face masks and she was raped. The girl as somebody who was inside the house was just wearing singlet and boxers, a man came to the girl in the house after distributing the face masks. He sent a boy who was there in the house for an errand and locked the door and raped the girl on her father’s bed and her father is late. The matter was brought to us, we did everything we did and the man was arrested and he is already in court.

Have you secured any conviction since you came on board?

No, we have not. But at least, we give counselling to the victims and even give shelter. There was even one that doesn’t have shelter and I have to keep her in my house. Like the one I told you of a girl of four years that was molested by her father. We pulled her out from that environment and brought her to Abakaliki for her to go through counselling and rehabilitation and she stayed in my house for more than two months but at the end of the day, I had to take her to the Royal Highness of that community and handed her over to him. But presently, she is not staying with that man again, she is staying with her grandmother and we are still on the matter.

There is this serious case that occurred in Ekoli Edda, Afikpo South local government area of the state where an 11-year-old girl was defiled while selling moi-moi. Is your organisation aware of it?

We were informed that an 11-yearold girl was brutally raped by a 40-year-old man and that the girl’s condition was so bad such that she needs medical attention and justice. Immediately we got that information that Thursday night, I had to pass that information across to my team- my lawyers. The following day, all of us rushed to the scene.

We first of all went to the police station and on getting there, we discovered that the police lived up to expectation by arresting the man. The girl was initially admitted at Owutu General Hospital in Afikpo South but we were told that she didn’t get adequate medical attention such that her condition worsened and that she was losing it. In order to save her life, she was transferred to FETHA1 as a matter of urgency and emergency.

We drove straight to FETHA1 and saw the girl in a terrible condition. She was screaming on top of her voice because of the pains she got from the defilement. I was allowed to enter into the room she is in the hospital and she was in a very pitiable condition.

I discovered that her lower abdomen was swollen up and when I made inquiry, I was told that it might end up being a surgical case. We want to cry out calling on government, calling on public spirited individuals to come to her aid. She is actually an indigent and we had to contribute money the little we can and bought things including provisions for her. She needs help but the good news is that the man has been arrested.

One thing I am promising her is that we are going to use our legal powers to ensure that she gets justice. The court has resumed, let the police conclude their investigations then we take the man to court.

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