Rape not gender war, popularity contest – Ogun PPRO warns against social media trial

The Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, of the Ogun State Police Command, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, has warned Nigerians against turning rape allegations into a gender war and social media trial, insisting that an allegation is not a conviction.

Babaseyi, gave the warning on Tuesday in an opinion article titled “Rape, reputation and the court of public opinion.”

The PPRO, who is also a legal practitioner, revealed a disturbing pattern where once a woman says “I was raped” and a man says “I did not rape her,” the social media then delivers its verdict before investigation and court trial.

He noted that rape is one of the gravest allegations and deserves seriousness and proper investigation, and the public must not lose sight of due process.

“Before the police investigate, before evidence is properly examined, before lawyers test the facts and before a court hears the matter, social media has often reached its verdict.

“The courtroom now has a competitor. It is called the internet. And sometimes, it is faster than justice. But speed is not the same as truth,” he said.

According to him, Nigeria does not operate a single statutory definition of rape, as the legal framework includes the Criminal Code, Penal Code and the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015, alongside state laws.

He explained that while the Criminal Code and Penal Code build rape around unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman without consent, the VAPP Act broadens it to penetration of “another person” without consent, including through the vagina, anus or mouth.

He explained that a man can also be a victim of rape, stressing that “a male victim is still a victim” and his gender should not make his experience less believable.

“Then comes the broader language of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act. Its Section 1 is significant because it speaks of penetration of “another person” and whether “the other person does not consent.”

“That language matters. YES, A MAN CAN BE RAPED. This is one part of the conversation society sometimes struggles to have. Sexual violence is not exclusively a woman’s experience.”

Babaseyi noted that the law also does not assume consent from familiarity, relationship or previous consensual encounter, just as an allegation does not become proof because it is emotionally compelling or the accused is unpopular.

Speaking on police procedure, he said the police are not the court and their duty is not to manufacture guilt or innocence but to establish facts through complaints, evidence preservation, digital analysis, medical and forensic examination and witness tracing.

He warned that social media, though useful in exposing hidden issues and encouraging victims to speak, has a dangerous weakness because it does not have to prove its case, asserting that posts can go viral without verification and screenshots can tell only part of a story.

The image maker stressed that rape is a legal question governed by applicable law, not by hashtags, celebrity status or public sentiment, and urged the public to stop asking “whose side are you on?” but rather “whose side is the truth on?”

“Rape is not a popularity contest. It is not a gender war. It is not a social-media referendum. It is a serious criminal allegation that demands serious investigation and, where evidence supports it, serious prosecution,” he said.

He called for a society where a woman can report rape without being silenced, where a man can report the same without being mocked, where an accused can claim innocence without being convicted by strangers, and where police can investigate without choosing between compassion and impartiality.

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