Ekiti to show photographs of rape, child defilement offenders on state television

Plans compulsory psychiatric test for culprits
Worried by the frequency of reported cases of raping and child defilement, the Ekiti State Government yesterday said it would soon start showing photographs of offenders on the state-owned television and announcing their names on radio stations in the state to serve as deterrent to would-be offenders.

The state government said that it took the measures as proactive steps aimed at curbing sexual violence and child defilement.

The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Olawale Fapounda, who stated this yesterday in Ado-Ekiti when he addressed newsmen on measures to curb the menace, said there would be compulsory psychiatric tests for all persons of whom the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has issued ‘a case to answer’ legal advice for the offence of child defilement.

According to him, other measures included pasting of the photographs of convicted sex offenders in prominent public spaces in their communities and their local council headquarters.

“We will also be uploading the sex offenders’ photograph on the website of the Ministry of Justice and issuing an advisory to the traditional ruler of the sex offenders’ community on the status of the offenders,” he said.

However, Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Hussein Adamu, has said that lack of dignity and inconvenience experienced when practising open defecation due to non-availability of sanitation facilities, exposed women and girls to violence, including rape, when they have to go out at night to defecate in the open.

Adamu said this when the Federal Ministry of Water Resources signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Reckitt Benckiser (RB) Nigeria, makers of leading antiseptic brand, Dettol, on a national campaign to achieve a cleaner and healthier Nigeria.

The minister said: “With this partnership between RB Nigeria and the Federal Government, we hope to build a greater level of awareness and achieve behavioural change among Nigerians, such that will lead to more hygienic practices and ultimately, a healthier population.”

However, General Manager, RB West Africa, Mr. Dayanand Sriram, said the Clean Naija Initiative was developed as an all-inclusive campaign aimed at creating awareness, education and driving behavioural change to achieve a cleaner and healthier Nigeria.