Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi has come out to say that no one convicted for S3x offense like rape in any part of his state will benefit from his powers of the prerogative of mercy.
He revealed this in Ado Ekiti, while signing the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Child Victims of S3xual Violence Bill 2020 into law.
According to him, rape can lead to untimely deaths and emotional trauma, so rapists deserve no mercy once caught in the act.
He added that he would use his status as the Chairman of the Governors’ forum to rally support of his colleague governors on the need to declare state of emergency against the menace in their respective jurisdictions.
His words, “The Ministry of Justice is further directed to reaffirm state policy of opposing bail and rejecting plea bargain proposals from perpetrators of rape and child defilement.
“The State Government’s policy of ensuring that convicted S3x offenders do not benefit from my power of prerogative of mercy also remain in force.
“The Ministry of Justice is already working on measures to clear the backlog of rape and child defilement cases stalled because of the closure of courts as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.
“We're determined to improve conviction rates and provide comprehensive and appropriate support services to ensure survivors of S3xual offences are not subjected to further trauma”.
“Over the past few days, our country has witnessed acts of extreme violence perpetrated against women and children.
“In our state, the story is not different. Not a day passes without reported cases of rape and child defilement.”
While I appreciate the basis for this demand, it is my view that there is a need for a national consensus on the issue.
“I will be engaging the Nigeria Governors’ Forum at our next meeting to determine what emergency measures can be put in place to address this crisis more effectively and on a national basis.
“We will strengthen the Gender Based Violence Management Committee to continue to provide rapid and comprehensive responses to all forms of violence against women and children.
“In particular, the GBV Management Committee will be empowered to improve collection and analysis of data to monitor our GBV programmes.
“A state wide S3xual violence prevalence study will be commissioned in the general population to enable us have reliable data on the nature of the problem.
“I’m proud to sign a law that affirms one of the important policies of my administration.
“The ‘Compulsory Treatment and Care for Child Victims of S3xual Violence Bill, 2020’ reaffirms our commitment not only to prompt medical care for child victims of S3xual violence however also supports our resolve to achieve the effective prosecution of S3x offenders.”