Thread by @savndaniel

In the light of the decision of the Court, delivered by Justice Abiola Soladoye of the Lagos State Special Offences Court, on Monday, where he sentenced a cultist, Tayo Bakare, to 20 years’ imprisonment for raping an undergraduate of the Federal University,

Oye Ekiti, and her friend. I think it is essence that I share a thought or two on how to get quick and speedy justice, with respect to rape:

- How to go about it.

- How not to go about it.

- The media justice, and Court obtained justice.

I must also warn upfront, that

...some of the things I will be saying, may appear unsuitable and distressing to some persons. However, they are but my considered opinion.

The Charge crafted by the prosecution showed that the accused (now rapists) committed an offence contrary to sections 260(1) (2), 272, 297(1) and 299 of the Criminal Law of Lagos, 2015.

They did not run to @Twitter to make baseless allegations. They were circumspect.

In 2017, one Bakare (now the accused and a rapist) on the 27th day of August, ordered the victims, a 19-year-old girl, in the Ikotun area of Lagos, to remove her clothes. She did. He took her nude pictures with her phone and forcefully had sexual intercourse with her.

At the time, the victim was a 300-level student. She told the Court that the rapists/accused - 24-year-old Bakare - pretended to be 'a family friend' and lured her to a hotel, where he thoroughly raped her, and also threatened to kill her.

Let us continue....

At the initial stage, Bakare (now and forever will remain a rapist), denied raping the two friends (victims).

The Court said okay. Bakare, are you saying you did not rape these girls? He said 'no'.

The Court ordered that he be taken to the Golgotha of CROSS EXAMINATION.

It was at the Golgotha of Cross Examination, that he admitted before the Court that indeed, he had sex with the victims, and that the sex was without consent - as provided for by law.

Evidence was tendered and admitted in favour of the prosecution. All these drama was done

...in Court. Why? The victims were out to look for a Court-driven verdict, that is not propelled by tweets, threads, retweets, replies and likes on Twitter.

Let us continue....

Rape, has the psychological and the legal aspect of it. The psychological aspect throws in the question:

"Did you report to anyone?"

" Who was there when it happened "?

But people don't make love of that nature in the public. Humanity' has not descended that low, yet.

There exists another category of questions that seek to know:

1. If the victim is telling the truth.

2. If the victim is out to seek justice or get a revenge.

3. If the victim is just out to make meat of the issue, and move on.

Those questions weigh heavily on the victim,

...that it takes years for the victim to 'let it out'. Some die with it. Nevertheless, most who have so been sexually molested carry with them a burden that is always, at first, and seemingly so, faced with a societal constructive wall, that needs meticulous deconstruction.

Generally, our legal system has a somewhat rigorous process for proving the offence of rape. However, recently, the Court has moved away from that position. Other factors are now put into play.

Rape is evil, unnatural and remain so and those involved should be sternly punished according to law.

Sadly, the species of rape cases that make it to this street these days, calls for extreme caution because they appear be more ceremonial, seeking unsolicited validation.

I say so with the greatest of respect. Again, they appear to be rape cases devoid of the ingredients of rape. This has led to the construct of "court chasing". Our laws will not give judicial credence to cases that lack substance & merit. If you think otherwise, advert me to it.

Now, for those who are always quick to draw the attention of the public, comparatively, to the fact that in the U.S., even if a rape case is up to FIFTY YEARS, the victims always get justice.

Does the Court rely on just the mere words of the victims or accused?

Let us see:

If you have had the privilege of going through foreign Law Reports, even the Harvey Westein's case. You will agree that there is no where in the world, old unreported cases of rape are treated just on the words of the victims alone. The Court will not convict by listening to one

...party alone. It violates the twin pillars of natural justice which when translated to English language means:

- HEAR THE OTHER SIDE (both sides, which charts FAIR HEARING); and

- DO NOT BE A JUDGE IN YOUR OWN CASE (this is the rule against being bias).

It is that simple.

In those climes we mention all the time, this is what is being done to wit:

- The story of the victim is corroborated.

- They get corroboration for their story from other victims of the rapist such that there is now something, before the Court, in favour of the victim:

if this man raped all these, people, and the circumstances and pattern are the similar, then he must have raped them. The Court, immediately, begins to form an opinion and make inference in favour of the victim.

Sadly, what we see from most of the cases that make to @Twitter, are stories void of corroboration.

Nobody saw nothing. It is just you, the victim & your story against his denial.

No Court will nail a suspect simply because you shouted you were raped. You must show something.

Whilst the victim is dealing with the fact that she has been raped, she is also dealing with a most strong drive propelled by her emotions. So, most times, she rushes to the street FREES her mind. That's all.

And we ask, is that justice?
Could they have been more?

What most people are advocating for, unknowingly is that they want to see the standard of proof in rape cases, lowered to the extent that innocent an innocent man may get convicted on allegations without sufficient proof.

That is no different from mob action.

We must at all times flee from the temptation of jumping into the bandwagon of sentiments whenever rape is mentioned. Keep your emotions aside. And treat the issues based on its merit, without taking a side.

I have read many stories about false rape accusation, including the one that involved an African-American budding footballer, who spent 16 years in jail because his girlfriend did not have the courage to counter her father's instructions

...what was her father's instruction?

"Tell the Court that your boyfriend raped you." In other words, the sex between them was without consent.

The young man suffered it all:

- He went to prison.
- Repeatedly called a rapist.
- And spent 16 years behind bars, though innocent.

Well, it took a whooping 16 years of constant guilt, which almost killed the lady. She had to summon courage to come back to the same Court & say, I WASN'T RAPE. THE YOUNG MAN I CLAIMED RAPED ME 16 YEARS AGO, NEVER DID. I MADE IT ALL UP. Meanwhile, the man had gone through hell.

Tough one:

A lady that resolves makes to keep silent when raped, without taking reasonable steps to collect and preserve the evidence at the time, may find it difficult to obtain justice in Court. Except, she just want to come on twitter, make small noise and move on.

This is why the Fatoyinbos case, even when heard a million times, will hold no water. It was lost to time. Evidence all gone. All that was left to it was faint memory, uncorroborated stories. I say this with the greatest of mistake.

Again, MOST of the rape cases in the U.S., spring from the quest to BLACKMAIL, TARNISH their image & EXTORT from the suspect, especially when it involves 'celebrities'.

Let me quickly point out that a WOMAN'S dress, LOCATION, SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH WHY SHE may be raped.

The cases that had Cosby, Mike Tyson, Michael Jackson, R. Kelly et al, WERE ALL IRON CAST. The allegations against them were substantiated.

Evidence, evidence is what the Court relied on.

Not hearsay.
Not rumour.
Not clout chasing.

Asking for evidence or some sort of corroboration, does not make one a rape apologist. Those are questions that help strengthen the case of the victim.

You may not like it, but it is the truth.

Anyway, let us journey along.

LEGAL ISSUES ARE NOT SWAYED BY SENTIMENTS AND EMOTIONS. It is that serious.

LEGAL ISSUES ARE DEALT WITH IN A COURT OF LAW AND NOT ‘SOCIAL MEDIA COURT’.

However, we will encourage social media CONSIDERED input, WHEN THE VICTIM IS EITHER BEING THREATENED...FOUL PLAY....

Please note that mere sentiments won’t get you the justice you desire. Our courts are evidence-based. Hard and verifiable evidence.

Generally, rape victims may not be able to speak up at the time the offence was committed.

However, if the victim ever wants to do so in the future, there’s the need to preserve evidence:

- Take a medical test.
- Preserve all the evidence needed and speak up when you feel like.

That way, justice will surely come to you. However, anything done outside that is a matter for public opinion and not for our law courts.

Where you don’t have enough evidence in proof of your rape allegation, you’ve empowered the other person to go against you in a civil claim

...and claim millions of naira for the tort of defamation.

And where there is a legislation that criminalises defamation, then, the state will come after you and prosecute you for committing the tort of criminal defamation - if and when it is provided for in the law of that state.

Generally, rape is difficult to prove. However, having read about 72 cases, I discovered that the Nigerian Court has moved a way from the its colonial rigid position. Interestingly most of the cases I saw, were appeals following convictions which were dismissed up to the Supreme

Court. In THE STATE v. MUHAMMED Musa (2018) LPELR-46318(CA), the Trial Court acquitted the Respondent charged with rape. The Prosecution being aggrieved, appealed. The Court of Appeal set aside the verdict of the Trial Court and convicted the Respondent!

Please note that proof of rape is no longer "tortuous and teething" as in some old decisions like OKPANEFE VS THE STATE (1969) ALLNLR 411, OKOYOMOM VS STATE to mention but a few.

The frontiers for proving the offence of rape has been expanded by the Nigerian Court. Today, the trending mechanism imputed by the Court to help a victim of rape get justice, is to look at realities of the moment, as against the rigid position, even so without medical evidence.

Today, the Court can convict without medical report. I saw this reading the cases mentioned above. The standard for proving rape, has been somewhat watered down: the mandatory examination of the accused to show that the seminal extracts from the victim, to show that it belongs

...to the suspect/accused, is no longer the case. Most times, it is the circumstances of the case that will determine the reasoning of the Court.

If you read the case of EZIGBO VS STATE (2012), you will observe that the Supreme Court took into account the behaviour of the Appellant:

- He ran away when the mother of the prosecutrix /victim saw him with the victim.

- There was evidence that the parents of the victims were being begged to drop the charges.

- There was corroboration to the victims story.

If the story has merit and is credible, conviction becomes easy.

Thank you.

END!