THE wife of the Governor of Kaduna State, Hajiya Ummi El-Rufai, on Monday, advocated for a law castrating and executing rapists.
The Governor’s wife, who said this during her visit to the Kaduna State House of Assembly, said only severe penalities for rapists in the state penal code could deter others from the same crime.
According to her, an average of five rape cases, especially of minors, are reported daily in Kaduna State.
She visited the state House of Assembly ahead of a public hearing on the bill for a law to amend the Kaduna State Penal Code 2017, after scaling through the second reading.
The governor’s wife said she was at the state Assembly to see how the respected lawmakers could expedite the passage of the amended bill on sexual volence.
She said, “I am here to see how our respected lawmakers can expedite speedy passage of the amended bill on sexual violence. It is happening to our children and women every day. Our children and women need to be protected and that is why I am seeking for the speedy passage of the bill.
“Already, the Governor is doing a lot to make Kaduna a safe place for all citizens, irrespective of their gender and with all hands on deck, that is possible. We have three to five cases of rape from all parts of Kaduna on a daily basis. I am saying this because I am directly involved, having been working closely with groups of individuals working on sexual violence here in Kaduna.”
“I believe if we have this bill passed into law, our children and women in Kaduna will be safer than what we are seeing now. This is why we are calling on our lawmakers if possible, to ensure harsh penalties, including castration and death sentence, to serve as deterrent to intending and existing rapists,” she added.
The Speaker of the KSHA, Yusuf Zailani, also decried the increasing cases of violence against children and women, and promised that the lawmakers would pass the bill into law next week.
According to him, this is the first time a wife of a sitting governor would be so interested in such an important bill to warrant a visit to the state Assembly in the history of the state.
He said, “This is the first time we will be receiving a sitting governor’s wife at the Assembly to make a case of this magnitude; a case on rape for that matter. With evidence, you have shown to us in the presence of my honourable members, my body is weak. This is sad. This is terrible. We talk about our state first before Nigeria as a whole. We are in trouble. We need to move forward.
“I know the members of the committee in charge are very serious people and will not compromise. I will not tell you what we are going to input in the bill but in the end, everybody will be happy and smile. By next week, we are going to pass the bill into law.”
