Yes…this author does not deny that all societies have its unique problems: Pedophilia in Nigeria. However, the major problem arises when the society begins to settle with these issues, seeing it as the normal “wickedness of life that no one can do anything about.” The news of a 3 month old baby being raped by a seventy year old man should never be something we should settle with. It is not enough to pity the victims. It is not enough to fold our arms and utter statements like “ah the man is wicked”. We must prevent this heinous and preposterous act from being viewed as “the normal weekly bad news.”

The worst part of all this is that most individuals in Nigeria are unfortunately uneducated. So once in a while, you would still hear the heart wrenching question, “oh but what was she wearing?”, “why was she alone with the man, you know men have their urges?” It is terrible; it is truly unfortunate how some human brains work. The issue of pedophilia in Nigeria has become a silent but growing epidemic and we must open our eyes and gather our weapons to fight this abhorrent crime.

Unfortunately, most guardians and parents are unaware of the appropriate steps to take to protect their children from sexual abuse or to seek for state actions against the demonic agents who perpetuate these crimes. That is why– in this time and day– you would still see that most parents would decide to do absolutely nothing about the matter, hoping and praying that the child forgets the situation; that the child views it as a bad dream that never really happened. The parents are ashamed and afraid of what others might say. They are afraid of hearing statements like “why didn’t you protect your child from such pain”.

They may also question themselves on whether the punishment in place for the crime of pedophilia in Nigeria is actually sufficient enough to warrant reporting to the police. Unfortunately, with all these fears which stop them from actually reporting the crimes comes the complete ignorance of the adverse effects that this crime brings to its victims.

The victims in most cases will be unable to escape this tragic moment unscarred. Most of them grow up with adult depression, aggression, fear and anxiety, inability to maintain or develop relationships, hostility, just pure anger and hatred for the world and the list goes on. This article seeks to discuss the laws in place in Nigeria as it pertains to the defilement of a child.

The criminal code at the federal level provides for the offence of defilement under section 218

“Any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of thirteen is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for LIFE, with or without canning.

The act further provides for an “attempt to defile a girl child.” This is punishable with 14 years in imprisonment. It states that a prosecution for any of the offences must begin within two months after the offence is committed.  This provision operates just like a statute of limitation which entails that the right to bring action in court will extinguish once two months have passed from the time when the offence is committed.

This author submits that this provision should be jettisoned from the Criminal Code. A lot of victims are too ashamed and afraid to even consider disclosing the situation and two months is likely to pass during the period of gathering courage to report the crime. The code also provides that a person cannot be convicted without the uncorroborated testimony of one witness. In the case of Adenike v. state, the court stated the elements the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt under section 218 of the criminal code of delta state for the offence to be established:

• That the accused had sex with the child who was under the age of 11 years old.
• There was penetration into the vault of the vagina.
• That the evidence of the child must be corroborated.

The requirement for corroboration entails that; the court would be unable to convict the accused on the uncorroborated testimony of the child alone. Therefore there must be independent evidence that confirms the testimony;

For instance: admission of the act by the accused, circumstantial evidence, and the most common, medical evidence.[1] It is extremely immaterial whether the child consented for the act to be carried out or not, this is the major difference between the crime of rape and that of defilement. For a charge of rape, lack of consent is material and must be established. However for defilement the accused would not be able to escape such a charge by pleading that the child consented to the act.  A similar offence is created under section 221(1) of the criminal code. Where a person has or attempts to have carnal knowledge of a girl being above thirteen years or under sixteen years; the person would be liable to a term of 2 years imprisonment.

Luckily, the Criminal Law of Lagos state (CLLS) has introduced extremely important innovations into the law governing defilement. Under section 137 of the criminal law

“Any person who has sexual intercourse with a child commits a felony and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.”

With a perusal of the provision above against pedophilia in Nigeria, the first glaring innovation is that the offence of defilement under the law is gender-neutral. This means that defilement can now be committed against a child whether male or female. This innovation is extremely important because unfortunately, most cases of male child defilement are rarely reported.

This is because most times the male believes that he should have been able to handle the situation and therefore feels ashamed reporting the case. The situation is made worse in Nigeria –a patriarchal country– where most men believe that such things can only happen to a woman. This author submits that defilement, whether committed on a girl or on a boy carries the same weight of seriousness and should not go unpunished.

A second innovation is that, a child is defined under section 418(1) of the CLLS to have the same meaning under the Child Rights Law of Lagos State. A child under this law is a person under the age of eighteen years as opposed to 13years under the criminal code. It is submitted that this is also a very welcome innovation of the CLLS.

Most girls under the age of eighteen are not actually ready for the sex life. Any consent derived from them is therefore either pressured or one gotten without being adequately informed on the consequences of the act. In most cases, they are pressured into sexual activities which they do not fully comprehend. The last innovation to the law is that the requirement for corroboration of the testimony of the witness and the 2 months’ time limit for instituting an action for defilement have been removed. It is therefore, important to check the criminal law applicable in the particular state where the act occurred as the provision for the offence in each state would vary.

The offence against pedophilia in Nigeria is also provided for under the Child Rights Act of 2003 punishable with imprisonment for life upon conviction. The Cyber Crimes (prohibition, prevention etc.) Act 2015 also takes the ingredients of the offence of child defilement a step further and reference must be made to it when looking for applicable laws on forms of defilement occurring through the internet.[2]

There is a tendency of under reporting child defilement cases in Nigeria. Therefore, even though pedophilia in Nigeria is rampant, the number of actual convictions on the subject matter is few.

This could be for reasons of fear, religion, culture, shame etc. A disgraceful observation is that this offence is most times committed by someone that the victim knows or someone who is close to the family. It could be an uncle, a gateman, a teacher and horrifyingly enough, the victim’s very own father.

A Lagos sexual offence and domestic court in 2023 sentenced a 42 year old man, Suleiman Usman, to life imprisonment for defiling his eight year old daughter.[3] On Tuesday, February 4, 2024, an Ikeja chief magistrate ordered the remand of the 54 year old Michael Uduigweome in the Ikoyi correctional center for allegedly defiling his eight month old daughter.[4]

Some mothers, being aware of the crazy acts of their husbands would decide to hide it because of the fear of public condemnation and the desperate need to “try and keep the family together.” But these women fail to understand the long-term effects that sexual abuse can have on a child.

We can only hope that the under reporting of pedophilia in Nigeria would end and that all cases of defilement be reported accordingly. It cannot be denied that in cases of defilement, the guardians or parents of the children have an extremely important role to play.

The mother should educate her child on sex education issues.  It is sometimes feared that this would lead the child to experiment with sex too early but the child must know that their body is theirs, and that no one is allowed to touch whatever part in an uncomfortable way.

They must also get close enough to their children so that in the unfortunate case that defilement takes place, the child would have enough trust and courage to rely on the parent and tell them the details of what occurred to prevent its reoccurrence.

Most cases of silent pedophilia in Nigeria are more likely to reoccur and usually cause the most damage. Parents must abandon the flimsy reasons for refusing to report and ensure that the perpetuators of this crime are locked up forever to prevent its repetition with another child.

It is also important that law enforcement agents take the investigation of this crime very seriously. There should be no bias with regards to whether the child defiled is male or female. The justice system must also do better, because some cases of pedophilia in Nigeria remain unreported because of the cost of litigation.

The judges must scrutinize each case clear headedly to ensure that no man is punished for an offence he did not commit. If anyone is punished unjustly, the problem is not with the law which prescribes a just punishment in accordance with the severity of the offence, but with the individuals who are appointed to administer the law impartially. The justice system must however give justice to each individual accordingly.

Non-governmental organizations should be well established especially in states where most of the population are either illiterates or are living in abject poverty. These non-governmental organizations should assist victims of this crime. Last but most definitely not the least, this author recommends that persons convicted of this crime should undergo psychiatric evaluation. There is no doubt that something must be wrong with a person who even decides or contemplates carrying out any sexual act on a child.

There is no end to the amount of discussion that can be brought up on the matter of defilement and pedophilia in Nigeria. It is a completely atrocious crime that we as Nigerians, seem to have unfortunately grown accustomed to. In data published by the punch newspaper, it is reported that in 2023, Lagos alone, had 6,389 reported cases of sexual and gender based violence. A break down showed that 3813 cases were reported for adults while 2576 cases were reported for children. Also, statistics have shown that 20% of child sexual abuse cases occur in schools with 90% of the perpetrators being family members which make it difficult for children to make disclosures.[5] Therefore, it is clear that this crime has taken the stance of an epidemic and it must be combated as much as possible. Some people may have the opinion that the punishment with regards to defilement is too harsh. This author however does not take that stance and submits that the punishment is just right for any pedophile who decides to engage in sexual activities with any minor, whether it is the case that she was given to him in marriage or given in repayment of a debt or simply for the sake of doing so. The law cannot begin to scrutinize between varying degrees of the crime to see the circumstance that might have made the man to commit such act. There is no excuse for the crime of destroying a child’s life and the full fist of the law must come down on the offender accordingly.

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[1] https://thelegalstandpoint.law.blog/2023/03/30/lsp106-the-offence-of-defilement/#:~:text=As%20a%20general%20rule%2C%20the,liable%20to%20imprisonment%20for%20life

[2] Section 23 of the Cyber Crimes Act 2015.

[3] https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/05/31/father-bags-life-imprisonment-for-defiling-8-year-old-daughter/

[4] https://lawandsocietymagazine.com/outrageous-54-year-old-man-defiles-eight-month-old-daughter-in-lagos/

[5] Stated by Mrs. Bisi Ajayi Kayode, the Chief Executive Officer of Cece Yara (a non-governmental organization)

AUTHOR; JUSTICE OJIENOH