The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday proposed life sentences for anyone found culpable of defiling a minor.
The resolution was reached at the plenary during the third reading and the clause-by-clause determination of the “Criminal Code Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025 (HB. 151),” presented by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele.
Abuja Times reports that the bill, which was forwarded to the Senate by the House of Representatives, aims to review the punishments for some criminal acts in the wake of our changing world.
Earlier, Senator Adams Oshiomhole moved a motion, proposing the amendment of punishment for defilement of minors from a 5-year to a 20-year sentence.
Senator Oshiomhole argued that the act of defilement is worse than rape, as minors are usually the victims, stressing that such an act is capable of permanently destroying the life of the minor.
Seconding the motion, the Deputy Senate President, Barau I. Jubril, explained that five years imprisonment is way too low for such a weighty crime.
However, when the motion was thrown to a voice vote, the lawmakers overwhelmingly voted against it, stating that the crime of defilement requires stricter punishment.
That immediately paved the way for another motion moved by Senator Adamu Aliero: “Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, I rise to move that the punishment for defilement of minors in Nigeria is life imprisonment.” The motion was aptly seconded by Senator Olamilekan Solomon Adeola.
“Distinguished colleagues, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, called, ‘A motion has been moved and seconded that any defilement of a minor in Nigeria henceforth should carry a life imprisonment. Those in support should say “Hi,” and those against say “Nay.”
The senators roared with a resounding Hi. “So, the motion is carried,” the Senate President said as he slammed the gavel.
Akpabio, however, noted the punishment is applicable to anybody, noting that it doesn’t matter whether the defiler is a man or woman.
Unfortunately, the bill was stepped down when a clause sought to amend the punishment for the supply of drugs or instruments to procure abortion.
The amended clause read, “Any person who unlawfully supplies to or procures for any person anything whatever, knowing that it is intended to be unlawfully used to procure the miscarriage of a woman, whether she is or is not with child, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for five years.”
The lawmakers argued that the clause could criminalize doctors performing life-saving medical procedures in emergency cases.
Senator Abdul Ningi raised a critical point, warning that the section, as framed, could endanger both medical practitioners and patients in cases where abortion becomes necessary to save a woman’s life.
“We must be careful not to make laws that endanger lives or punish medical professionals acting in emergencies,” Ningi cautioned.
“There are situations in hospitals where a woman’s life is at risk, and doctors have to act immediately. If this law is passed without clarity, we could be punishing those saving lives,” he said.
While stating that the clause required further scrutiny, Senator Bamidele moved that the entire bill be stepped down for additional consultation to prevent legal ambiguities and moral conflict.
The Senate President supported the decision to step down from the bill, emphasizing that the issue of abortion remained a highly sensitive moral and medical subject that must be carefully handled.