Judges Demand Punishment Of Those Involved In Ese Oruru’s Ordeal

BEVERLY HILLS, March 11, (THEWILL) – Some high court judges in the South-West have called for the meting out of punishment for those indicted in the abduction of 13-year old Ese Oruru from Bayelsa State to Kano where she was forced into marriage. They maintained that punishing the culprits would serve as a deterrent to others.

The judges, who made this call on Thursday at a workshop on Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Law organised by the New Initiative for Social Development, in conjunction with the British High Commission in Ado Ekiti, lamented the increasing cases of rape in the country and demanded life jail for rapists.

Bemoaning the circumstances that led to the purported marriage of Ese to Yunusa without the consent of her parents, a judge of the Oyo State High Court, Justice Aderonke Aderemi said, “The penalty for rape is too mild. Those found guilty of rape should face life sentence because it is when those sentences are more stringent that such incidences will reduce.

“We need to review our laws to give room for life sentence for such crimes to serve as a deterrent to other culprits.”

On his part, Justice Akin Oladimeji of the Osun State High Court observed that culture and religion had not helped the cause of women in Nigeria and stressed that culture and religion are partly responsible for violence against women.

According to him, “In most cases, culture and religious knowledge always teach women in such circumstances to accept the situation as their own fate.”

Also speaking, Justice Titilayo Adesola-Ikpatt of the Ondo State High Court called for the establishment of a special desk and a special court to handle cases of women abuse because of the slow nature of the regular courts.

The Chief Judge of Ondo State, Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi made a case for a summit of all stakeholders, including the media, civil society organisations, the police and the judiciary to tackle the menace of gender-based violence.