Spikes in Rape in Nigeria: A Criminological Discourse -By Peter Odjeva

The Nigerian police recorded 717 rape cases between January and May, 2020. The contemporary shift in serial rapes witnessed in Nigeria is attributable to the cumulative detachment from social values, weak criminal justice system, psychological aggrandizement, and attainment of metaphysical conditionality. It is socially erroneous to advocate that addressing ladies modes of dressing or stiffer punishment for any culpable rapist will eradicate or deter the commission of this menace. The reported cases in the Northern Nigeria, who are believed to observe sanctity of modest dressing with the use of religious coverings like ‘hijab’ defies dressings as a monotonous reason for male’s inordinate affection in relation to the female folk to the extent of engaging in rape. Against the backdrop of stiffer punishments, research, over the years, has revealed the ineptitude of stiffer punishment vis-a-vis crime commission in eradicating deviant acts. The historical antecedents of the Killing of founding leaders of ISSIS and Boko Haram terrorist groups are examples.

Nevertheless, in the Christian Holy Book (Bible), the Pauline epistle in 1Timothy 1: 8 that “but we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully” connotes the need for law and punishment, however, accent should be placed more on the enforcers of the law. Put differently, the enforcers without compromising should ensure that the law takes its full course.

Needless to say that if the certainty of fair evidential and procedural legal process cum corresponding punishment for rape is enshrined as a formidable system in the Nigerian Justice production harbingers- the Nigerian Criminal Justice System, then, the menace of rape will lost its grip on the nation.

It is worrisome and not unlikely to say that the Criminal Justice System which on investigative pedestrian stems from the Police, the Courts, and the Prisons, is not free from the webs of ‘man-know-man’ and ‘profit making’. It is this systemic failure that lends credence to why issues accruing to rape are counterproductive in analysis. The culture of silence and the fear of the backlashes of stigmatization on the part of victims and guardians alike are largely bye products of the distrusts of the Criminal Justice System. This suggests ‘familial restorative justice’ to victims and guardians.

An appreciation of crime studies borrows leave to the assertion that crime prevention goes beyond the walls of the criminal justice system, but also situated in the existence and fortification of micro level social institutions. These institutions include but not limited to the family, the religious, and education institutions. The functionalist school argues that the functionality of any society is largely predicated on the tranquility of social institutions. To put differently, societies experience dysfunctions when there is a backlash in the operationalization of institutions.

Whereas, there is breakdown of trust in the Nigerian Criminal Justice System, other social institutions are already losing control of some private individuals. For instance, the religious institution which plays a pivotal role in maintaining social stability have recorded cases of followers being perpetuators of this menace (rape). This implies that people who tended to be harbingers of social control are gradually losing the integrity of their profession.

Another way in which religious institution is losing its control of people’s behavior especially in the wake of Covid-19 is the effect of restrictions placed on religious activities. It should be recalled that Karl Marx posited that religion is the ‘opium of the people’. This implies the role religion plays in shaping peoples mentality and actions. The recognition of the intricate relationship that coexist between religion and nation building will make meaning in the way religious activities is to be operationalized. While the justification of restrictions placed on religious activities cannot be entirely ruled out, it should be noted that the ripple effect of it was not envisaged upon formulating the policy statement. The religious institution as part of the social control mechanisms would have to be restrictions free on order to function maximally in the nation building process. The ban on religious activities has deprived people from routine teachings that have the potentiality to tame anti-social behaviour (Travis Hirchi corroborates this in his social control theory).

Rape is not a product of sexual inclinations, but lack of social control mechanisms. Thus, social deprivation of religious teaching is a contributory factor to the spikes in anti-social behaviours like rape because criminogenic inclinations that would have been tamed either by the Imam’s or Pastor’s teaching or admonitions have been left to formulate and manifest in an unguided and guardless ways. More so, the absence of home security consciousness in view of the restrictions makes the polity a suitable hotspot for culpable perpetuators.

The bid to satisfy metaphysical (ritual rites) conditionality by manifesting in rape even with juveniles may not be advanced as there are no empirical evidences substantiating this, however, the feasibility of this cannot be swept under the carpet. Unlike the internet fraud codenamed “YAHOO PLUS” which underscores the place of metaphysics in championing its aims, rape cases have not be substantiated in that regard, a thing which subject this piece to further studies.

By and large, the fight against rape will continue to be a misadventure upon advocating for stiffer punishment until the various social institutions are provided adequate supports and recognition and ensuring that the Nigerian Criminal Justice System live to their portfolios. The supports and recognition will help in strengthening the various structures domicile in these micro level institutions. It would also help in achieving their fundamental aims and objectives. Although the restriction on religious and educational activities was in response to the wake of Covid-19, however, there is need to find an alternative as the vestiges of the restriction may live with us longer than expected. The path to nation building must be approached as a system and not by happenstance. More so, the trust in the Nigerian Criminal Justice System as the macro harbinger of justice without sentiment to social class and status must be restored and sustained unwaveringly.