PROSECUTION OF CHILD RAPE IN NIGERIA: BEYOND THE CRIMINAL CODE AND THE PENAL CODE

Abstract

This paper takes a critical look at the prosecution of child rape in Nigeria under the substantive criminal legislations. It extensively examines salient issues like penetration, the need for corroboration, the nature of corroborative evidence required, consent, leniency of punishment, different views held by Courts on some of these issues and the absence of a Rape Shield Law in Nigeria. These salient issues have become impediments faced by the prosecution and have led to the presence of only a few reported child rape cases in courts and merely a handful of successful convictions of child rapists despite the overwhelming occurrence of child rape in our society today. This paper advocates for the enactment of a new Criminal Code and Penal Code to reflect new sexual social vices like child rape, spousal rape, female to male rape, male to male rape and so on and to set a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for the crime of rape and the introduction of Rape Shield Laws which will provide laws to guide the courts during rape trials and further protect the child victim during trial.