The spokesperson of the Delta State police command, DSP Bright Edafe has stated that sexual intercourse with children under the age of 13 years attracts a penalty of life imprisonment.
In his post on X, he stated,”A sexual intercourse with either a boy or a girl under the age of 13 years is defilement and the punishment if found guilty is life Imprisonment. Section 218 CC. In this case, consent is immaterial and such offences can’t be compounded. So going to court and swearing to an affidavit won’t work. In fact any parent who tries to cover defilement could be charged to court for aiding and abetting.”
Section 277 of the Child Rights Act of 2003 defines “a child as a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years.”4 Again, the Cyber Crime (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) Act, 2015 defines a child or minor to mean any person below 18 years of age. By all standards, a child is vulnerable compared to an adult and as such he/she requires care and protection from anything that may occasion harm or threat to his/her well-being.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as “a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.”
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