Yobe State governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, yesterday signed into law the State Penal Code Amendment Law 2018, which prescribed punishment for rape, kidnapping and unnatural offences, which were becoming rampant in the state and other parts of the country.
“Our administration has taken measures to curtail them and ensure the protection of societal morality. Every society acknowledges the relevance of morality to the sustenance of societal discipline”, the governor said during the signing of the bill into law, as passed by the state Assembly.
The governor said the bill he signed into law “made provision for the amendment of section 282 of the Penal Code to institute the maximum punishment for rapists, kidnappers and those who commit unnatural offences.
“The law stipulates clearly that whoever commits rape, where the victim is a minor, shall be punished with imprisonment for life and where the victim is an adult, shall be jailed for a term of 25 years.”
Gaidam also said that a register of convicted rape and related offenders will be kept by the court and “will be made accessible to the public to portray the shameful act committed by the culprits”.
CREDIT:GUARDIAN
