A South-Western state in Nigeria is emerging with an alarming number of rape and other sexual offenses cases that has now become worrisome for concerned citizens.
The Ogun State government said on Thursday that the state records 15 cases of rape and other sexually-related offences on weekly basis.
The Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Justice, Adesola Shobayo, made the disclosure while speaking with journalists in her office in Abeokuta.
Mrs. Shobayo said the rate at which abuse of minors and other related offences were fast increasing in the state had become worrisome. She explained that the best way to check the problem was to review the criminal law by fast-tracking the legal process and imposing stiffer sanctions in order to deter culprits.
“I don’t know why rape cases are so common these days. It is fast becoming a big problem in the state.
“We now record no fewer than 15 cases of rape in a week. My own attitude to these problems is to review our criminal law as it affects defilement and other sexual offences.
“Also, government at all levels should come up with stiffer punishments so as to deter culprits totally from it,” she said.
Speaking further on the protection of children rights in the state, the permanent secretary revealed that the Amended Child Rights Law was already being implemented in the state.