Nigerians have been misinformed saying that the age of consent in Nigeria is 11 years
Conversations around rape, pedophilia, child marriage and sexual harassment have intensified in the court of public opinion. It has also taken centre stage on Twitter

The quintessential vehicle for activism and contemporary conversations in the 21st century. Thus, the Nigerian age of consent has been subjected to intense questioning and canvassing.

This is not helped in anyway by the fact that If you type ‘age of consent Nigeria’ on your google search bar, the most authoritative thing you will get is from a site, age of consent, which wrongly pegs the Nigerian age of consent at 11, when it is 18.

The truth is, the real age of consent in Nigeria is 18. Section 31 (3) (a) of the Child's Rights Act 2003 states that, “Where a person is charged with an offence (of unlawful sexual relations with a child) under this section (31 of the same act),

it is immaterial that the offender believed the person to be of or above the age of eighteen years.”

While the Law didn’t explicitly mention that the age of consent in Nigeria is 18,

the gamut and purport of section 31 of the Child's Rights Act implies that "the age of eighteen years" is a benchmark that could determine the difference between an adult and a child.

Thus, if "the age of eighteen years" is mentioned, the age of 18 is a determinant of whether anyone can or cannot give their consent to have sex. Some might argue on the premise of the Law, over the lack of clear statement,

but the same Child's Rights Act states the minimum age of marriage to be 18.

You see, the Mischief Rule of the canons of legal interpretation looks at the mischief a provision of Law seeks to rectify. By that Mischief Rule,

if the Law is unconcerned with an offender’s lack of knowledge of a victim when he has carnal knowledge of her and seeks to punish that mischief (offence) regardless, and makes the age from which a person’s perception to be wrong as 18, then the age of consent is 18.

Asides the problem of international misinformation championed by the infamous website, http://ageofconsent.net , the reasons are a threefold;

•The issue of the sexual offences bill.
•The uncertain minimum age of marriage in Nigeria.
•The problem of state Laws across Nigeria.

Following the very high-profile controversies of Senator Sani Ahmed Yerima who married a 13-year-old girl in 2013, second quarter 2015 birthed the Sexual Offences Bill. It was one of 46 laws hurriedly passed by the penultimate National Assembly.

It stipulates life imprisonment as punishment for any individual convicted of having sexual intercourse with a minor.

But as the Law was passed, probably due to misinformation, Nigerians thought the National Assembly had reduced the age of consent from 18 to 11. Thus, Premium Times decided to do a “fact check” on the matter.

In the report, Premium Times documented criticisms from eminent Nigerians like Professor Wole Soyinka and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Femi Falana (SAN) who reportedly described the bill as “obnoxious."

Falana reportedly said, “It was that Committee (Committee on Judiciary and Legal Matters) that illegally removed the age of 18 years and replaced it with 11 years.”

Whereas in truth, Section 7 of the Sexual Offences Bill prohibits sexual intercourse with anyone between the ages of 0 to 18. It punishes them all with life imprisonment upon conviction. That Section 7 states that;

•A person who commits an act which causes penetration with a child is guilty of an offence called defilement.

•A person who commits an offence of defilement with a child aged eleven years or less shall upon conviction be sentenced to imprisonment for life.

•A person who commits an offence of defilement with a child between the age of twelve and fifteen years is liable upon conviction to imprisonment for life.

•A person who commits an offence of defilement with a child between the age of sixteen and eighteen years is liable upon conviction to imprisonment for life.

So, how did the misinformation with '11' as the age of consent come about?

The problem comes from how people have only read the provision of Section 7 (2) above which states that, “A person who commits an offence of defilement with a child aged eleven years or less shall upon conviction be sentenced to imprisonment for life.”

They interpreted the benchmark for age of consent to be 11 without reading the provisions of sub-sections (3) and (4) of that Section 7.

The provisions of Section 7 (3) and (4) further prohibits sexual intercourse with children between the ages of twelve and fifteen years and sixteen and eighteen years respectively, and equally punishes those cases with life imprisonment.

The criticism of the bill was popular, so it probably became a standard across international media and the object of misinformation.

The problem is also partly the draftsman's fault. He could have simply punished all sexual acts with any child under the age of 18 with life imprisonment. The breakdown of Section 7 into different ages of the Sexual Offences Bill complicated matters.

If Section 7 of the Sexual Offences Bill had simply stated that, “Anyone who is found guilty of having sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 18 will be sentenced to imprisonment for life,"

we might not have had this problem. Such unnecessary dichotomies (as in the aforementioned Section 7) should not be a characteristic of the legal draftsman.

Credit: http://pulse.ng 

I had to do this for two reasons.
1. I took a stroll to Facebook last night and saw a comment from a deranged fellow about the age of consent being 11 and how the 12 year old girl was “ripe” and could have consented...I was so angry and blocked him before taking a screenshot

2. I saw that a friend tweeted and another posted on her IG story..that the age of consent was “11”.
I was shocked because I’m all my 6 years of studying law I have never heard this.
So I went on a search.
Rightly so.I googled and saw “11” years boldly written. And I went further

Just below that snippet were articles... explaining.. but you know.. Nigerians do not take their time to read.
I’m sure no one ever cared to look for this “act” and see for themselves.

That said, the draftsman did not do a good job but then as lawyers we are taught to read as a whole and being armed with the knowledge of the rules of interpretation of statutes.. give a better explanation to aid understanding.

Though a young lawyer freshly out of law school, serving and as new as my wig at the bar.
I am willing to offer my services to Victims and NGO’s to help get Justice.

I am not timid, I do not forget neither do I forgive.. and one day, sitting in court, a young extern watching someone being sentenced to death.. I do not think I felt a thing other than satisfaction that justice have been done.
Don’t come here and display your ignorance talking

About how death penalty should be abolished:Today is not the day.
We would talk about that another day dear friend.
I remember asking the Judge during our weekly sessions with her “when would he be hung”
Sadly I got to find out that day that Governors do not sign to execute these

Sentences... talmabout “not wanting to get their hands soiled with blood”
If I ever become Governor, you know the rest.

So do not go about you deranged “uncle and aunty” saying “11 years Is the age of consent in Nigeria” as justification for your wickedness.
YOU WILL BE CAUGHT AND YOU WILL SPEND THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE LIFE IN PRISON”
And I hope you know what prisons I’m talking about

#JusticeForUwa
#saynotorape