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 Nigerian Senate on Tuesday 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 of 10 years imprisonment contained in the current law, a report by The Nation, said.
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 Senator Oluremi Tinubu.
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 proceeds to prosecute outside the two (2) 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 16, 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.
“We are at a time where these sort of crimes are on the increase,” Tinubu said. “Daily, we are regaled with tales of children as old as a few months being defiled.
“Should perpetrators of such crimes be allowed to go scot-free on the basis of the technicality that prosecution did not commence within two months?”
She said that the Bill also proposed an amendment to Section 221, to substitute the words ‘idiot or imbecile’, with the words ‘mentally challenged’.
“While words like idiot, moron, and imbecile were professionally used to measure 1Q, they have acquired pejorative connotations, become derogatory and obsolete; and should no longer be contained in our laws,” she said.
She further noted that while the Criminal Code Act defines rape in Section 357 as an offence against women, “there are incidents of non-consensual sex perpetrated against the male gender.”
She added, “This definition is particularly grievous because it perpetuates the socio-cultural belief that men do not need to consent to sexual acts.
“In addition, we must ensure that our laws and jurisprudence evolve with the rest of the world.”