Henceforth, anyone arrested in connection with a rape case in Ekiti State will be denied bail.
Already, Governor Kayode Fayemi has directed the office of the state’s Attorney General (AG) and Commissioner for Justice to always oppose bail application and plea bargaining for such offenders.
The governor said that this had become imperative in the wake of renewed incidences of rape across the country.
The governor spoke in Ado-Ekiti on Friday evening while signing the ‘Compulsory Treatment and Care for Child Victims of Sexual Violence Bill 2020’ into law, promising to enlist the support of other governors for the declaration of emergency on the matter.
The bill targeted at fortifying and tightening the loose ends in the Gender-Based Violence Prohibition Law 2012, which had earlier been passed by the House of Assembly.
Fayemi said: “The Ministry of Justice is further directed to reaffirm the 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 sex offenders do not benefit from my power of prerogative of mercy remains in force.
“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.
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“In particular, the GBV Management Committee will be empowered to improve collection and analysis of data to monitor our GBV programmes.
“A state-wide sexual 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 Sexual Violence Bill, 2020’ reaffirms our commitment not only to prompt medical care for child victims of sexual violence but also supports our resolve to achieve the effective prosecution of sex offenders.”
Describing the law as timely, Fayemi said: “It is fitting that the House of Assembly passed this legislation this week. 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.”
