The Minister of youth Development Mallam mobolaji Abdulahi earlier said today that in-spite of the identification of the suspect of the ABSU Gang rape it may be difficult to bring them to book on the charge of rape. He was quoted to have said
" Some legal expert have told us that it may be difficult to convict the rapists because the video does not reveal the faces of the victims (suspects i believe he meant to say) The girl is not a student of Abia state university she was raped in an off- campus residential area of the students .one of them (suspects) has been identified conclusively. Although the faces of the rapists are not seen in the video, the minister said the National Human Rights Commission was on top of the situation.“The National Human Rights Commission is working with the Ministry of Youth Development. The commission, which is headed by a competent lawyer, is on top of this case.“This is law, if we can not press for violation, there are other charges that we can press. I can assure you that justice will be done.”
Now lets make an attempt to solve this puzzle logically and as a legal practitioner . i have worked at the National Human rights commission and i know how the system works. In the video, the girl’s face is clearly seen but the faces of the five boys remain blurred. One could clearly hear them speak Igbo and English language revering to each other by names; for instance, one of the rapists said, “Wisdom don dey talk now.” Other names the rapists called themselves during the commission of the act in the video include: Chisom, Zaki, Uchenna. Zaki even bragged to the victim, “Do you know who Zaki is?” The fifth name is a little muffled but sounded very much like Ifeanyi. One of them identified himself as a 400 level law student, while another claims to be on IT Industrial attachment.
The first thing to do is to ensure that the identifies suspects(s) are questioned and interrogated (of course they are at liberty to deny their involvement especially with the aid of a very good lawyer. The identification of Lady /Victim (in person) in the video is very important to prove its case against the suspects , she will be in a perfect position to identify the suspects and the location of the crime which will also be very helpful to the prosecution.
An important step the government can take now is to openly appeal to the victim to come forward and help bring the suspects to book. it is quite unfortunate that most rape victims would rather keep quiet and suffer the trauma in silence as they are afraid for stigmatization from the public if they ever come forward with their testimonies.luckily the only face that appears clearest on the video is that of the victim and it will be a shame if the Nigerian security agencies lacks the intelligence to identify the victim in person.
Rape is the most serious kind of sexual assault and is punishable with imprisonment for life with or without whipping according to the Nigerian Criminal code.
The Offence is defined in section 357 of the Criminal Code as follows
" Any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl ,without her consent,or with her consent,if the consent is obtained by force or by means of threat or intimidation of any kind,or fear of harm,or by means of false and fraudulent representation as to the nature of the act,or, in the case of a married woman,by personating her husband,is guilty of an offence which is called rape.
" Every person who does or omits to do any act for the purpose of enabling or aiding another person to commit the offence and every person who aids another person in committing the offence are all criminally responsible under section 7 of the Criminal code.
this includes the person making the video of the rape and possibly the owner/occupant of the apartment/room in which the offence was committed are also criminally responsible for rape , conspiracy to commit rape and facilitating the commission of the offence.
It is clear from the video that the act of rape actually occurred, the suspects has been identified and we need to identify the victim in person and possible counsel and convince her to identify and testify against those who raped her.
The names of possible suspects and pictures in circulation at the moment are as follows :
1 Ifeanyi Justin Ogu
2. Jonah Uche (final or extra year accountancy)
3. Zaki (resides in Duberville Lodge, ABSU)
However only one suspect has been identified “conclusively” according to The Minister of youth Development Mallam mobolaji Abdulahi.
The Controversial gang rape video has gone viral on the internet and has a record of close to 1.4 million downloads (and still counting).
Another thought provoking statement is "i hope the victim of the crime has not been murdered" this is a very important statement to be further warrant a serious investigation into this matter as the culprits can go to any length to cover up their crime.
*The Saga continues *
The Government should rise up to its Responsibilities and idenbtify the victim first. the so called suspect must produce the other rapists and also give the identity of the victim.
Nigeria really need to send some of her security agents abroad for proper training. the SSS need to be fully equip with gadgets of latest technology.
If this kind of incidence had taken place at countries like the USA, Briton or Japan their security agents would long ve identified those beast cos it wouldn't take much time as they have the video of this ungodly act.
Those beasts should never go free cos they pose a great danger to lots of women out there.
Thank goodness we have the video evidence of the crime... the FG thru the SSS have the responsibility to bring those animals to book, and make sure they rout in hell.
They should first castrate and then kill them. Bastards. They are all products of wasted sperm and are not fit to live!
i am highly disappointed the rate of investigation and the calous statments being made by the police and even the minister of youth. i wonder why the location of the crime has now taken paramount position over the crime itself. the most important thing here is that a nigerain youth has been violated by some unscrupolous element who deserved to be dead by now and rather than the law enforcement agents to effect such an action they are begging the question. this story reflect the true position of nigeria, as it is being raped daily by our leaders, and those in authority leaving the poor masses helpless to bare the brunt. this is a shame to the nigeria police force, this is a shame to the abia state goverment, this is a shame to the entire Igbo race, this is a shame to all women in political office positions who have failed to use their office to bring these demented animals to book, this is a shame to the federal repubic of nigeria. justice at this point is demanded and we as nigerian should not keep quiet on this issue until we see the pepetrators of this beastly act broght to judgement, and thier entire families exposed to face the shame.
The easiest way to make the victim come forward is for the Government to assure her that she would be relocated to another country and granted scholarship. Cameras would not be allowed in d courtroom and she would be veiled on the way to and from the courtroom. Her video deposition can also be taken after identification parade of the victims and after making statement to the police