The
Senate on Thursday passed the bill for an Act to prohibit violence
against persons with provisions strengthening sanctions against
offenders, including life jail for rapists.
The bill, sponsored
by Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba, was passed at Thursday’s plenary and it was
approved with favourable voice votes.
Speaking at the session,
Senate President, David Mark, said the legislation would address some of
the evil customs of the society, adding that the law would sufficiently
protect the people from the excesses of such devilish people.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the legislation seeks to eliminate violence in private and public life.
It
specifically prohibits all forms of violence, ranging from physical,
sexual, psychological, domestic, harmful traditional practices and
discrimination, against persons.
NAN further reports that its
provision provides maximum protection and effective remedies for victims
and punishment for offenders.
The proponents of the bill had argued that the right of persons to freedom and security must be guaranteed.
Sections one and two of the legislation have now increased punishment for rape and other forceful sexual activities.
A person convicted under the section, according to the bill, is liable to imprisonment for life
However, where the victim is less than 14 years of age, the offender shall be liable to a minimum of 14 years imprisonment.
“Where the act described under this section is committed by a group of persons, the offence shall be known as gang rape.
“
And on conviction the persons shall be liable jointly and severally to a
minimum of 20 years imprisonment without an option of fine.
“The
court shall also award appropriate compensation to the victim as it may
deem fit in the circumstance,’’ according to the bill.
Similarly,
a bill for an Act to amend the 1999 Constitution to correct a
fundamental spelling error in the name of Atisbo Local Government Area
of Oyo State was passed.
The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Ayo
Agboola (PDP-Oyo), averred that the error had affected the status of the
local government, its peoples and adjoined towns.
The bill did not attract any objection and therefore made to scale through second reading.
In
a related development, the bill for an Act to repeal the Insurance
Brokers Act of 2003 was stood down for further consultation to be made.
Sen.
Adegbenga Kaka (APC-Ogun), sponsor of the bill, held that legal
document when approved would bestow the insurance industry a robust
network to grow the sector.
According to him, the bill seeks for insurance and broken companies to be registered in personal names.
Kaka
said the document made liability owners to become limited, adding that
the Board would therefore become more responsive and diligent.
He said the proposed Act had raised the share capital in the industry to N10 million as against the former N5 million.
NAN reports that the bill had also jerked up the indemnity cover from N10 million to N100 million for effective performance.
On his part however, Sen. Ita Enang (PDP-Akwa Ibom) countered some of the issues raised in the document.
Enang
said “the bill could have been to amend and not to repeal the Insurance
Broker Act of 2003.This bill is in direct clash with the existing Act.
“President
of the Senate, this bill arrogates the power to the operators to
operate and to regulate, we know this cannot be done,’’ he said
Also Abdul Ningi (PDP-Bauchi) also projected some of the short falls in the bill, adding that it required some fine tuning.
It
was at this point that the President of the Senate, David Mark
tactically came to the rescue of the bill by seeking the sponsor to
stand it down to another legislative day.
“At this point it may
be necessary for Senator Kaka to withdraw further presentation of the
bill to seek further consultation,’’ Mark said.
Also stood down
is a bill for an Act to establish the Nigerian Peace Corps (NPC) to
train, educate and re-orient the youths of the nation.
Another bill for an Act to amend the treaties (making procedure) 2004 was also stood down.
It
seeks to make the National Assembly as a mandatory part of the
treaty-making procedure to all treaties entered into between Nigeria and
other countries.
NAN further reports that the Committee report
on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions on allegation of wrongful
dismissal against the police was deferred.
Also deferred was a
report of the joint Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal
matters and State and Local Government on Border Communities’
Development Agency Act .
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