Archbishop Kaigama says rapists should face full wrath of law

The Archbishop of Abuja Catholic Archdiocese, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, has said perpetrators of rape should face the full wrath of the law to serve as deterrent to others.

Kaigama, who made the call in his homily on Sunday in Abuja at Charles Lwanga Parish, Apo, also urged Nigerians to pray for the victims of sexual crimes.

He said while calling for prayers for victims of sexual crimes, he hopes that the perpetrators would face the full wrath of the law.

“We hope they will be reformed and through our prayers they will be delivered from the bad spirit that leads them to commit such horrible sexual crime,’’ the archbishop stated.

Kaigama said the increased cases of rape were frightening as a tender three- months- old baby was said to have been raped in May.

The archbishop said that the inspector general of police disclosed recently that the police arrested 799 rape suspects between January and May.

“The rape culture is dehumanising; rape inflicts lifelong untold psychological trauma on the victims, rape is not only a grievous sinful act, but barbaric and a criminal act.

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“The case of a student of the University of Benin, Uwaila Omozuwa on May 27, was reported murdered by unknown persons as well as other cases of rape and even gang rape is a symptom of ungodly and dysfunctional society.

“President Buhari in his Democracy Day speech had expressed displeasure against rape and violence against women in the country, especially of the minors.

“Recently, Pope Francis was concerned about child abuse worldwide and on May 7, 2019, he issued an apostolic letter titled: You are the light of the world.

“In his letter, he acknowledged that the crime of sexual abuse offended our Lord, causes physical, psychological and spiritual demand to the victims and harm the community of the faithful,’’ he said.

Kaigama said the Catholic archdiocese of Abuja had formulated a policy for safe-guarding minors and vulnerable persons in compliance with the directives of the pontiff.

He said the archdiocese had inaugurated a committee in this regards. According to him, rape and other forms of crime are consequences of sins, urging Christians to shun such sinful acts.

The archbishop said sin had also led to a broken world and had produced people with hardened and wicked hearts.