There’ll be no plea bargain with rape suspects

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said on Thursday that he was set to inaugurate the Inter-Ministerial Gender-Based Violence Management Committee to address the rising cases of rape in the country.

Among other tasks to be assigned to the committee is reaffirming the policy of opposing bail applications and rejecting plea bargain proposals from perpetrators of rape and child defilement.

The committee is also to ensure that such convicted offenders do not get prerogative of mercy.

This is contained in a statement issued by Malami’s Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs, Umar Gwandu, on Thursday.

The committee, according to the statement, will comprise “functional and skilled officers drawn from” among others including, the Federal Ministry of Justice, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development Programme, Federal Ministry of Health, and National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons.