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The House of Representatives has passed a bill which seeks to provide for imprisonment, registration and monitoring of sex offender against minors, through second reading.
The lawmakers who frowned at the recurring cases of sexual assault against minors in various parts of the country, emphasized the need for punitive measures against perpetuators of the dastard acts.
The bill sponsored by Ochiglegor Idagbo (PDP-Cross River), seeks to notify law enforcement agencies, owners of schools, child care services providers, social workers, employers and the general public as a caution against recurrence of sexual offences and to maintain a register of sexual offenders in a designated registry.
In his lead debate, Idagbo said that studies have shown that sex predators are serial offenders, therefore argued that unless the records of convicts are kept, more people would continue to fall victim of the act.
“History has taught us that people that commit such offenses are likely to continue to commit the act, the trauma victims of such dastardly act, especially minors go through is huge, to curb this, a proactive approach is required.
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“Most Minors who are victim of this act, most times are unable to speak out, which allow abusers to continue to abuse victims,” the lawmaker stressed.
Idagbo who narrated the case of an Uber driver in Lagos, that for days defiled and continued to abuse a minor that he normally drive to school, disclosed that after further investigate it was revealed that the man was a convicted sex offender.
In his contribution, Chika Adamu (APC-Niger) said: “in the past, when someone commits a crime like abusing a minor, it is referred to as a taboo, but unfortunately, today, people with money can wriggle free from law.
“With a database like this, it would help employers to know the type of individuals they are employing, however it not only men that sexually assault girls and women, women also do assault boys and men,” he noted.
In his remarks, Jimoh Olajide (APC-Lagos) who supported the passage of the bill, described the act of sexually assaulting a minor as “barbaric and heinous crime.”
He added that: “unfortunately, it has become habitual mannerism, but this bill will help in preventing the recurrence of this crime.”
While ruling, Speaker Yakubu Dogara referred the bill to the committee on Human Right for further legislative action.
