Ekiti State First Lady, Mrs Bisi Fayemi

By Rotimi Ojomoyela, Ado-Ekiti

The Ekiti State First Lady, Mrs Bisi  Fayemi , has said the state has found it difficult to overcome the increasing incidences of rape due to highly entrenched culture of impunity among the perpetrators.

Fayemi said the fact that those perpetrating the act and other evils like child trafficking and all forms of  molestations against women, had not  been punished made the fight against the social ill looks unattainable.

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Mrs Fayemi spoke in Ado Ekiti on Thursday during a rally  organised against rape by stakeholders being part of the 16 days  programmes of the government to combat the scourge.

The First expressed worries over increasing rape of minors in Ekiti, particularly by those who were old enough to be grandfathers.

The first lady urged the victims to speak up and refuse  to die  in silence to make rape easier to overcome.

“There are laws in the land that had been promulgated  against violence against women, child  trafficking and rape . Some people have been convicted through these laws .

“Don’t keep cases of violence against you  secret , speak up. Try and learn how to dignify yourself. Make sure your families are in peace, don’t die in silence

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“This is why we are creating  more awareness across the 16 local government areas of the state. Even many of those who ought to have information about rape are not having them.

“As I stand here, I am already tired  of matching  against rape. It has been difficult to overcome the scourge because of culture of  impunity in Nigeria. The perpetrators were being emboldened because they suffered  no punishment over their wrondoings.

“We are doing this awareness to let our people understand that there is a  penalty for rape. We have reviewed the Gender Based Violence Prohibition Law, it has been amended and it now carries life  sentence instead of five years jail term.

“We are going to put a number on WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook that victims can contact while in distress  to bail them  out when they  suffer any violence”.

Vanguard News