Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Traditional rulers in Delta State have called on relevant authorities to apply the maximum weight of the law on those involved in rape and defilement and other gender-based violence across the country.
The monarchs under the aegis of Delta State Council of Traditional Rulers, expressed worry over rising cases of rape and defilement across the country, saying that such severe punishment would serve as a deterrent to other people nursing the intention to commit the act.
They made the suggestion in a four-point communiqué issued at the end of the council’s quarterly meeting in Asaba.
Chairman of the council and Obi of Owa kingdom, Dr. Emmanuel Efeizomor II who read the communiqué at the end of the meeting, condemned in the strongest terms the alarming rate of rape being reported in the country.
Efeizomor who alluded to recent cases of rape and murder of innocent Nigerians, pledged the total support of the body to the fight against the act in its entirety.
While calling on the judiciary and law enforcement agencies to handle the issues of rape with a high sense of justice, the royal fathers insisted that anyone caught in the dastardly act should face the full weight of the law.
“W call on government at all levels to come out with more stringent measures to curtail the ugly trend,” they said.