Falana backs Soyinka to stop sex law on underage girl

Opeyemi Oshoko |

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has thrown his weight behind Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka’s disapproval of some provisions of the Sexual Offences Bill, 2015, passed by the Senate of the 7th National Assembly.

The bill, which criminalises the defilement of children under the age of 11, was among the 46 bills hurriedly passed by the Senate of the 7th National Assembly during its valedictory session.

The law lowers the age of consent of women to sex from 18 as contained in the Child Rights Act to 11.

Soyinka had on Saturday urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to ever “place his assent on such a nefarious distraction” adding, “Its implications doom the victim to afflictions that churn the stomach even to think of the human toll.”

According to Soyinka, a nation should not be founded on the sexual exploitation of the fragile and innocent.

He said, “President Buhari – and here I make my first imposition on his presidency – should never place his assent on such a nefarious distraction,” Mr. Soyinka, a professor of Comparative Literature, said in the letter to the organizing committee of the June 12 Movement of Nigeria.

“Its implications doom the victim to afflictions that churn the stomach even to think of the human toll. Perhaps those legislators think that vaginal fistula is something thought up by arm-chair critics with nothing better to occupy their minds. No matter, let those who profess a genuine concern declare their stand on this.

“On my part, I find unacceptable any effort to build a nation on perversions that merely minister to man’s sexual appetites. This is a sordid appeasement of a minority who actually require psychiatric help.

President Buhari should not give his assent to the Bill without amendments that address the earlier Yerimah gift to the nation. It’s a trap.”

Commenting on the bill, in a statement co-signed by Falana and his wife, Funmi, on Sunday, they explained that because the last Senate hurriedly passed the bill, the legislators could not pay attention to the “odious” provisions in the law.

They threatened that if the law was eventually passed into law, they would file a suit before the Federal High Court to strike down the “obnoxious provisions.”

The statement read in part, “We thank you for drawing the nation’s attention to the odious provision of the Sexual Offences Bill, 2015 passed by the Senate which has criminalised the defilement of children under 11 years.

“Since it was among the 46 Bills hurriedly passed by the Senate of the 7th National Assembly during its valedictory session the members did not pay any attention to its provisions. We have confirmed that the Bill has not been forwarded to President Mohammadu Buhari for his assent as it has not been passed by the House of Representatives,” they said.