Americans have begun to express serious concerns over the amended rape laws that will ensure rapists are surgically castrated and sentenced to life imprisonment in Kaduna state.
According to the new law signed by Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai, “Whoever commits rape of a child below the age of fourteen years shall on conviction, be punished with surgical castration and death,”
Female rapists in the same vein would undergo a surgical procedure to remove their fallopian tubes.
However, Americans feel Nigeria which ranks 146th of 180 countries on Transparency International’s corruption index can not be trusted to approve such drastic laws to end the menace of rape.
It would be noted the United States government imposed a visa ban on Nigerian politicians who were involved in corrupt practices during the Bayelsa and Kogi gubernatorial polls.
Americans are worried that the law of castration for rapists may be a political tool in disguise to unleash oppression on the good people of Nigeria.
Here are some of the reactions from American Twitter users;
@groenteboer18
Better be foolproof… in a country like Nigeria? They won’t be not even close. Also I doubt convictions can be completely foolproof even in the most developed country hence I’m against brutal, revenge motivated, irreversible forms punishment like mutilation or death.
@ross_baglin
Nigeria ranks 146th of 180 countries on Transparency International’s corruption index.
In light of this, I must decline to rejoice at this sentencing plan. Moreover, adult-adult rape convictions are extremely difficult to prove even in the best justice system.
@SubToScrimzox
Good laws, but I’m concerned about false convictions and this country also put a 13-year-old in prison for 10 years for not believing in Allah.
@Lord_Scorch
That’s all I can think about.
To enforce equal punishment for a horrific crime (such as rape and child pedo) you need to have a effective justice system in place.
Does anyone have that? No, which means someone is, even if it’s one person, going to be wrongfully castratied.
@aceplusdiamonds
For every 1000 rapes, 384 are reported, and 57 may result in an arrest, and 11 are sent to prosecution.
You’d have to be the most unlucky person in the world to get falsely convicted of a rape, and especially unlucky if your seed “accidentally” gets inside of a child.