Edo state Judiciary and the Edo state Ministry of Justice should take a clue from Lagos State Judiciary and Ministry of Justice on how to be ruthless in the the war against rape and other forms of sexual abuse.

Recall that we had reported the story of the Edo state Judge (a Magistrate for that matter) who struck out a case of defilement of a 9-year old girl by a 33 -year old man (who pleaded guilty to the charge) simply because the father of the victim asked the court to strike out the case as he has forgiven the culprit.

This happened just about a week after Hon. Justice Abiola Soladoye of the Lagos state High Court sentence a 27-year old man who pleaded guilty of defiling a 7-year old girl to life imprisonment.

Yet again, a similar scenario has played out again which demonstrates how serious Lagos State takes the fight against sexual offences, so much so that even the victim has no power to withdraw such case, how much more the father of the victim.

A 24-year-old woman (name withheld), allegedly drugged at a nightclub and gang-raped in a hotel at Lekki, Lagos, by two dropouts of Babcock University, wants the criminal suit filed against the defendants – Don-Chima and Olusegun, withdrawn.

The complainant made her request for withdrawal of the case during proceedings at an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Thursday, via a “Letter of Withdrawal”.

The letter, dated June 3, 2019, was addressed to the Director of the Directorate of Public Prosecution and signed by the complainant.

In the letter, which was read in court by Justice Abiola Soladoye, the complainant attributed her decision to seek the withdrawal of the case to “intervention of family members” and for the sake of her integrity.

Mr Akin George, a Deputy-Director in the Directorate of Public Prosecution and lead state prosecutor, however, opposed the complainant’s request.

He noted that the complainant was in court for the continuation of her cross-examination by the defence.

“We do not have a directive from the office of the Attorney-General.

“My lord, the Honourable AG is the complainant in this case.

“In every criminal matter, victims are naturally witnesses and as we speak, there is no AG in office due to the change in power.

“We are also aware of the rules of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law which states that even the Court of Appeal cannot stay an ongoing proceeding.

“Our office initiated this action in court and there has to be a closure one way or the other.

“My lord, we have submitted issues for the respective decisions of this court.

“We will bring the witness to state her position before the court, while we continue proceedings and await directives from the AG’s office,” George said.

Responding, defence counsel, Mr Tunji Ayanlaja (SAN), said while he shared the views of the prosecution that Lagos State originated the criminal suit, he disagreed that the absence of the AG had created a vacuum.

He also sought the release of the defendants from prison.

“The constitution is so clear that when we do not have an AG in office, the Solicitor-General takes over the function of the AG. My lord, we are ready to proceed.

“The unfortunate thing is that the defendants have been in prison ever since. The complainant, who is their (prosecution) witness, has developed cold feet for one reason or the other; this development is replete in the letter by the complainant.

“To meet the end of justice, I apply that your lordship should consider releasing the defendants on bail.

“At the end of the day, no compensation will be paid to them. They are young men who have languished in jail for four or five months,” Ayanlaja said.

After listening to the submissions of the prosecution and defence, Justice Soladoye said that the court would continue with proceedings, and that bail would not be granted to the defendants because the court had already delivered a ruling denying them bail.

“However, so that these proceedings will not be an exercise in futility, a short adjournment will be taken, pending directives from the office of the AG,” she said.

The case was adjourned to June 18 for the continuation of trial