You may be prosecuted for exposing your children to rape, Ekiti NSCDC boss warns parents

The Ekiti State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr Solomon Iyamu, has warned parents and caregivers to stop leaving their wards, especially the female ones, at the mercy of neighbours and uncles. Iyamu added that the government would regard such negligence as aiding and abetting a crime if it happened, […]

The Ekiti State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr Solomon Iyamu, has warned parents and caregivers to stop leaving their wards, especially the female ones, at the mercy of neighbours and uncles.

Iyamu added that the government would regard such negligence as aiding and abetting a crime if it happened, and parents and caregivers could be prosecuted for it.

He drew the attention of parents and caregivers to the increasing cases of rape and defilement, “despite the activities of the state government towards reducing the menace in the state.”

The NSCDC lamented that friends and families “who are supposed to help families are the ones committing the shameful offence”, adding that “any uncle, brother or friend caught in the act or attempting to commit the act, especially acts committed against minors and senior citizens, will be made to face the law for the purpose of serving as a deterrence to others.”

Iyamu made the remarks yesterday while counselling parents in his office in Ado-Ekiti, where he urged the citizens to support the Command to arrest and prosecute offenders.

He frowned at the “lackadaisical way” parents and caregivers in the state had been responding to rape and defilement cases.  He explained, “Oftentimes, witnesses are always running away from giving testimonies against suspects in the law court, or assist in the investigation of rape cases, thereby making it hard to establish the truth. In any doubt, the court can set the suspect free. “The rate at which the crime is going in the state is geometrical due to the lockdown in the state and the consequent closure of schools. Parents and caregivers always leave their wards at the mercy of uncles, brothers and family members, who can be borrowed by idleness to perpetrate rape and defilement.