After an apparent lull, incidents of rape appear to be on the upswing again, as recorded in recent weeks across the country. Let me take you down memory. In the last decade, the rape phenomenon has become so rampant that you would think the heist had been legalised! At one point, I thought Nigerian men had been Indianised. India is the most notorious destination for rape under the sun. Indians do not just rape and go, they rape and kill, gang-raping their prey in most cases!    

And by the way, how many of us would remember that during the great COVID-19 lockdown, a total of 3,600 rape cases were reported across the states in Nigeria?

In 2018 alone, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic, which I once described as the year of rape culture in Nigeria, two students of Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, bagged life jail terms for rape and cultism. One of the victims, named Omolola George, had told an Akure High Court that she was forcefully ferried away from the college premises at gunpoint on a motorbike to an unknown destination where she was gang-raped.

One Hussaini Sirajo, aged 19, allegedly lured his neighbour’s seven-year-old daughter to a farm and forcefully had sex with her at Katoga village in Katsina state. In Abeokuta, two teenagers were arrested for allegedly gang-raping a 14-year-old girl. The victim narrated to the police how she was cornered by the assailants while going for her hairdressing apprenticeship and was oblivious of the environmental sanitation rule.

In Ibasa, Lagos state, a 48-year-old father named Tajudeen Adefioye allegedly raped his 10-year-old daughter. And in Warri, Delta state, a 73-year-old native doctor, Joseph Umuluku, was taken into police custody for allegedly defiling a 13-year-old girl, after luring her into a common bathroom.

In April 2020, the Kaduna State Government withdrew the licence of the Liberation College, Trikania, and shut it down. The action of the government did not arise from the poor standard of the institution. Rather, the authorities came down heavily on the college because its owner raped one of its pupils, aged nine.

Recently, a man who had been raping his biological daughter almost daily for four years running from age 14, with a threat to kill her if she spilled the beans, was picked up by the police. The maniac had supplanted his late wife with the poor girl, who eventually summoned up the courage to report the matter to the police when she could not take it anymore.

In the Kuje settlement of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), two young men were arrested this week by vigilante folks for gang-raping a 15-year-old hawker of garau-garau made from rice.

Rape incidents have become so prevalent that even law enforcement agents and people with disability (PWD) are also involved in the despicable practice. Instances also abound of police officers falling on women in their custody. Teachers, head teachers, and principals have been reported to have defiled their pupils and students.

There are also cases of pastors raping members of their churches. While some force themselves on their victims, others have carnal knowledge of them, using spiritual cleansing and deliverance as a ridiculous alibi to achieve their goals.

Look at this instance. In July, this year, a 45-year-old man of God(?) raped his young teenage daughter. However, he bagged 53 years for his efforts. Rapists have no taste. They go for anyone in skirts or wrappers: young, middle-aged, grand or great-grandmothers.

Several factors also promote this phenomenon especially among the minors. Chief among them is hawking. It is a common thing to see underage girls swarming all over the place selling all manner of items ranging from groundnuts, oranges, plantains, sachet water tomatoes to kola nuts in order to boost their family incomes during or after school hours. These hawkers easily fall prey to rapists who are always on the lookout for easy targets like the garau-garau vendor. Some states have banned the practice. Other states should follow suit.

In fact, incidents of fathers falling over their blood daughter are so common, even beyond this country because the rapists have found it so convenient to do so. One of such cases that drew my interest took place in a community in Kenya some years ago. Pissed off by the father’s incestuous attacks, the girl decided to end the trauma in a tragic manner.

One fateful night, the father sneaked into her poorly illuminated room after the other members of the household had gone to the church for a vigil. He had insisted that his victim should stay back to attend to his needs. Unknown to him, the daughter had hidden a sharp jack knife underneath her pillow. And as soon as the father slithered all over her like a python, she produced the knife and slit his throat. The randy dad let out a loud, guttural sound of death. The girl rolled him over and melted into the darkness. The elders in the compound who had earlier been informed about the escapade, shielded her from arrest.

Early this week, an incident was reported in Idoji-Okene community of Okene Local Government Area of Kogi state, where a 21-year-old housewife, named Maryam Muntari, alleged that a neigbhour, Ahmed Kalo, tricked her into his room and attempted to rape her at a knifepoint. She played along and when Kalo dropped the weapon to unpant, she grabbed the knife and struck, leading to the man’s death. The woman has been swept into the police custody while investigation is ongoing.

The Idoji-Okene tragedy prompted these recalls. About a decade ago in faraway India, a young woman found herself in a near similar situation as Maryam. She was swooped on by a neighbourhood rapist. The woman was a good actress. She pretended to cooperate so that the predator would lower his guard. At the appropriate time, when the man was about to dig in, she brought out a kitchen knife and sliced off the rampaging phallus. She then rushed to the nearest police post to report the attack and produced the flaccid organ, dripping with blood, as proof! Reacting to the Indian episode, I advised women to be on the offensive at all times. It was after that incident that the Kenyan girl struck.

However, many are wondering how Maryam was easily lured into a man’s room under whatever guise. You do not know rapists. Rapists are subtle in their approach, and some victims can be gullible. Well, that is the puzzle for the police to solve.

While there are rapists who force themselves on their victims for sheer physical pleasure, there are those whose actions are driven by the desire to acquire spiritual powers. Some ignorant men even believe that unprotected intercourse with virgins is an antidote for HIV/AIDS or poverty, as espoused by marabouts, witch doctors, or other agents of the devil. In the end, they infect their innocent victims with the deadly virus. So, in some cases, rapists are also killers!

Under the Nigerian law, rape is punishable by life imprisonment, with the possible addition of caning. However, rarely has the law been enforced. Nigeria is perhaps the only country that treats rapists kindly. Rapists are worse than armed robbers. A robbed woman can regain her possessions. But a rape victim is robbed of her dignity and honour, which cannot be recovered. The scars left on the victims do not heal: the psychological and physical trauma make many avoid healthy sexual activity. If not properly counselled, the victim could become a hater of men and lead a very unhappy and unfulfilled life.

It is common for rapists to blame the devil when they are caught. The public also easily forgives them, in the erroneous belief that the devil had possessed them. And because families tend to protect their daughters who have been defiled or raped from public stigma, most rape cases are seldom reported. Such secrecy enables rapists to escape punishment.

This attitude should change. Victims and their families should stop hiding their pains and people should stop stigmatising them. Rapists should be treated like armed robbers who deserve severe punishment. Recently, there were calls in some quarters that convicted rapists should be sentenced to death or castrated. There should be no excuse for not punishing the criminals. In fact, punishing them will help their victims to recover peacefully. Children should be taught sex education. They should be taught to avoid strangers, including neighbourhood “uncles”, dark alleys, houses with few occupants, and lonely streets.   

Government at all levels should not handle these criminal elements with kid gloves. A desperate ailment requires a desperate cure. All necessary means should be deployed to prosecute the war against the social vermin. The society will be a better place without them.