Rapes in Nigeria now three times the typical level as women and children were locked down with their abusers due to Coronavirus pandemic, Nigerian Minister of Women Affairs Pauline Tallen, has said.
Tallen said rapes had reached an “alarming rate” as every state in Nigeria, West Africa’s most populous nation, was affected by sexual violence and a series of high-profile rapes.
“We are calling for legal intervention,” she said. “From details that we have, there are hundred of cases that are within our courts that have not been addressed and out of each one case, be sure that there are 10 that have not been reported.”
She also called on judges and the police to treat reported rapes with gravity.
Tallen raised the issue at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting and said that President Muhammadu Buhari supported urgent action.
“Government will take decisive action at the highest level to protect women and children in this country,” she said.
