Some high court judges in the South-West have demanded punishment for those indicted in the Ese Oruru saga to serve as a deterrent to others.
Ese, a 13-year-old girl as of the time of her abduction, was taken from Bayelsa to Kano, where she was allegedly forcefully married by Yunusa Dahiru, aka Yellow.
Lamenting the increasing cases of rape in the country, the judges demanded life jail for rapists.
They made the call at a workshop on Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Law organised by a Non-Governmental Organisation, New Initiative for Social Development, in conjunction with the British High Commission in Ado Ekiti, on Thursday.
A judge of the Oyo State High Court, Justice Aderonke Aderemi, lamented the circumstances that led to the purported marriage of Ese to Yunusa without the consent of her parents.
Aderemi said, “The penalty for rape is too mild. Those found guilty of rape should face life sentence because it is when those sentences are more stringent that such incidences will reduce.
“We need to review our laws to give room for life sentence for such crimes to serve as a deterrent to other culprits.”
Justice Akin Oladimeji of the Osun State High Court said culture and religion had not helped the cause of women in Nigeria and other African countries.
According to him, culture and religion are partly responsible for violence against women.
Oladimeji said, “In most cases, culture and religious knowledge always teach women in such circumstances to accept the situation as their own fate.”
Justice Titilayo Adesola-Ikpatt of the Ondo State High Court called for the establishment of a special desk and a special court to handle cases of women abuse because of the slow nature of the regular courts.
The Chief Judge of Ondo State, Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi, called for a summit of all stakeholders, including the media, civil society organisations, the police and the judiciary to tackle the menace of gender-based violence.
