Abia State has established a Sex Offenders Register at its Ministry of Justice, becoming the latest Nigerian state to formally operationalise the tool, years after Lagos and Ekiti pioneered similar registers in 2013 and 2014.
Commissioner for Information Okey Kanu said the register will publicly document individuals convicted of sexual offences as a deterrent. He disclosed that Umuahia’s Family Court has already convicted two offenders in cases involving minors — one sentenced to 30 years for raping a teenage girl, the other to 10 years for defiling a five-year-old child.
Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation Ngozi Blessing Felix said one convict fled to Nasarawa State after the offence but was tracked down, arrested and returned for prosecution, pleaded guilty and was sentenced the same day.
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