Governors declare emergency over rape crisis

Nigerian governors have declared a state of emergency following a surge in cases of rape and violence against women and children. The authorities are blaming the trend on the recent lockdown imposed in some states to limit the spread of coronavirus. BBC News reports that the 36 governors said they were committed to ensuring that offenders ‘face the maximum weight of the law’. The chairman of the governors’ forum, Kayode Fayemi, said they have asked Nigeria’s police to provide a detailed report on action taken to strengthen their response to sexual and gender-based violence. They also committed to create a sex offenders register in each state and increase funding to tackle the problem. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, police last week arrested a man suspected of raping 40 females over the past year. Thousands of people have signed a petition under the hashtag #WeAreTired.