A member of the House of Representatives from Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa federal constituency, Oyo State, Honourable Shina Peller, has commended the federal government of Nigeria for launching the first National Sexual Offenders Register to help tackle violence, rape and other forms of sexual abuses against women.
Hon. Shina Peller’s commendation was contained in a statement dated 28th November, 2019 and signed by his Press Secretary, Kola Popoola, in reaction to the federal government’s launch of a database for sexual offenders in the country.
Hon. Peller explained that the move by the federal government is in synergy with the resolution of the House of Representatives, which had on Tuesday, 16th July, 2019, during its plenary, urged the federal government to establish rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for the victims of rape and other sexual offenses and state governments to maintain sexual offenders registers in their respective states.
Recall that the House’s resolution on the subject matter was necessitated by a motion moved by Hon. Peller on the “NEED to Tackle the Scourge of Rape and Other Sexual Offenses against Children in Nigeria.”
While presenting the motion on the floor of the House, Hon. Peller had expressed concern that gender-based violence such as rape and other forms of sexual abuses has assumed an alarming position that needs urgent attention and effective correctional measure.
Hon. Peller expressed his optimism that the newly-launched Sexual Offenders Register, which will contain the names of all those prosecuted for sexual violence since 2015, will bring about reduction in the cases of sexual abuses in the country.
He also called on state governments to take up the challenge by keeping databases of convicted sexual offenders.
