Parents Covering Defilement Of Minors Risk Imprisonment – Police
MICHAEL AKINOLA
The Nigerian Police have warned parents not to cover any case of defilement of minors because it is a criminal offence to do so and they are liable to several years of imprisonment if eventually caught.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that this was disclosed by the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, who confirmed that such parents will be prosecuted before the Court for aiding and abetting.
The Delta State Police Command image maker, DSP Edafe, stated that sexual intercourse with children under the age of 13 years attracts a penalty of life imprisonment under the Criminal law.
In his post on X, he stated,”A sexual intercourse with either a boy or a girl under the age of 13 years is defilement and the punishment if found guilty is life Imprisonment. In the Section 218 Criminal Code, in this case, consent is immaterial and such offences can’t be compounded”.
“So going to Court and swearing to an affidavit won’t work. In fact, any parent who tries to cover defilement could be charged to court for aiding and abetting.”
“Section 277 of the Child Rights Act of 2003 defines “a child as a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years.”4 Again, the Cyber Crime (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) Act, 2015 defines a child or minor to mean any person below 18 years of age. By all standards, a child is vulnerable compared to an adult and as such he/she requires care and protection from anything that may occasion harm or threat to his/her well-being.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as “a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.”
This may have finally resolved the issue of parents going to various Police Divisions and Commands asking to withdraw cases of rape and defilement because they may be arrested and charged before Court for Criminal liability.
