Senate moves to impose life jail term for child defilement

The Nigerian Senate has proposed a stiffer penalty of life imprisonment for anyone found guilty of defiling a minor.

Under the current law, the offence carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment, but lawmakers say the punishment is too lenient given the severity of the crime.

But, in an amendment proposed to the Criminal Code Act under a new bill, “Criminal Code Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025”, the Senate has increased the penalty to life imprisonment without an option of fine.”

The Red Chamber of the National Assembly said it considers the defilement of minors to be a very “grievous offence” capable of “destroying” the life of the child for forever, hence the offender must suffer a punishment of the same proportion.

The House of Representatives, which initially passed the amendment bill, forwarded it to the Senate for concurrence.

But, carrying out a clause-by-clause consideration of the bill during plenary, lawmakers recommended stiffer penalties for defilement, rape and other offences.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio said: “Defilement is even more serious than rape. It is a very serious issue and should carry more punishment” as senators unanimously voted to approve the life imprisonment clause.

“Any defilement of a minor in Nigeria henceforth, the punishment is life imprisonment.

Let everyone be aware,” Akpabio said.

A stiffer punishment was also proposed for rape or any act of forcing a boy, man, girl or woman for sex without their consent, whether in a brothel or any premises.

While the extant law prescribes a five-year jail sentence as punishment, the Senate has raised the penalty to a “minimum of 10 years in the first instance.”

Former Kebbi Governor, Senator Adamu Aliero, originally suggested life imprisonment for rape, but the Senate, in its resolution on the matter, adopted 10 years as the minimum jail term.

In the new proposal, Clause 2(1), reads: “Any person who detains a man or boy, a girl or a woman against his or her will in any premises in order to have unlawful canal knowledge of him or her; in a brothel or any place, commits a felony and attracts a minimum jail term of 10 years, on conviction.”

The bill, in the original form seemed to imply that only a female could be raped or women are more likely to be rape victims.

However, former National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Senator Adams Oshiomhole, rose to observe that boys and men were in modern times, also victims of rape.

He said the rapist could be a male raping a male, a male raping a female, a female raping a female or female raping a male.

On the strength of Oshiomhole’s argument, the Senate rephrased the clause to reflect boys, men, girls and women.