Some Nigerian’s have raised concern over a Punch Newspaper headline that they perceive derogatory to indigenes of Anambra especially the men folk and the Igbo tribe at large
On the 9th of June 2020,the Punch Newspaper Nigeria on their website published a story captioned – Anambra Fathers Raped Daughters More During Lockdown. Below is the url link to the story
https://punchng.com/anambra-fathers-raped-daughters-more-during-lockdown/
Incest and Rape are acts considered as taboo and abomination in Igbo’s cultural heritage, with Anambra people inclusive, and no well bred Igbo man will ever support incest or rape regardless of the situations in which they occurred.
It’s no doubt to any well meaning Nigerian, that the above caption Punch gave to the information provided by the director of Child Welfare Services in Anambra State, is apparently faulted with prejudice hinged on perceived bigotry.
Its sure that Mrs. Nkechi Anazodo, the Director of Child Welfare Services an aegis of Anambra State’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Children and Social Welfare, will be puzzled, over how the statistics she provided to the public in Isuaniocha community of Awka North LGA was utilized to dehumanize the people of her state.
Statistics that she provided is highly needed in the country, to help in drawing attention to such crimes and help in averting it, as the perpetrators are duly punished according to the laws of the land, but the worst over this issue might be happening in other places in the country where the records are not being tracked or yet to be disclosed to the public ,so Anambra men doesn’t deserve the tag as leaders of incest in Nigeria that the caption seemingly attributed to them.
In recent past , there were stories in circulation of incestuous relationship being made legal in places like Germany,
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/apr/16/incest-legality-ethics
regardless of the above news headline ,it won’t be right for any mainstream media to publish a story and imply with the caption that all Germans are in incestuous relationship.
Rape Crimes on the increase
“That there was increase in cases of incest in Anambra state during the lock-down doesn’t justify that caption which implied generalization of the crime of rape and incest, to me Punch Newspaper literally bundled all fathers in Anambra State into a sphere and tagged them rapists.’’ Cookey Iwuoha Editor in Chief of Nigerian Eye Newspaper Ghana and project coordinator of All Africa Media Network bemoaned.
‘’Incest is a crime that is being committed globally, Anambra or Igbo’s shouldn’t be made the leaders of this crime with such a wrongly crafted caption. 80 cases of incest doesn’t justify the humiliation and apparent stigmatization of Anambra people and Igbo’s that this story caption is bound to wreck on this human group.
‘’It is very possible that this story and its warped headline will continuously spring up in academic papers whenever the subject of incest and rape or even effects of covid-19 lockdown is being researched on.
‘’ The caption ‘’ Anambra Fathers Raped Daughters More’’ is not objective, it implies generalization of the act and also means Fathers in Anambra state have been raping their daughters all the time and raped them more during the Pandemic.’’ Cookey Iwuoha reiterated.
“This is the evil of Journalism. We need a regulatory policy that censors this kind of reductionist publications; Our legal system is holding us back. Their is no improvement of the Law in the face of growing technological reach. Without a good Law, we cannot regulate certain things that fan the flames of division. This is why I am interested in graduate education quality so that lawyers can go into legal activism in these areas.’’ Ken Obiakor the founder of Leadership Develop Foundation for Civic Literacy fumed over the inadequacy of the Punch editorial for publishing such headline.
Punch Newspaper is one of the most respected daily newspaper that circulates nationwide for decades in Nigeria, and as a mainstream media platform ,a lot is expected from it editorial wise to bridge the gap on quality news reportage in the nation, and should stand as a pedestal of media excellence to the blogs springing up on every corner of the nation.
Big Kudos to Anambra people for tracking the crime in the state, by doing so they are unearthing the atrocity and will help the government develop strategies to curb this sacrilege. It’s a fact that most sexual abuse cases begins in homes, and are perpetrated on the victims by the people they trust and hold in high esteem.
