The Senate has recommended life jail for male and female pedophiles in Nigeria.
A paedophile is a person who is sexually attracted to children.
The action followed concurrence to Criminal Code Act (Amendment) Bill , 2025 forwarded to it by the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
It stepped down legislative action on approval or otherwise of the five year jail term recommended by the House of Representatives for abortionists.
The bill which was presented by the leader of the Senate, Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti Central) has a five year jail term as punishment for minors defilers.
The term was however changed due to arguments and recommendations made by Senators during debate.
Senator Adams Oshiomhole ( Edo North), during his contribution to the debate, argued that defilement of minors should be treated as a very serious crime far above rape.
He said:”Punishment for defilers should be more punitive or stringent than the one for rapists. If rapists are to serve five years in jail after conviction, child defilers should not serve anything less than 10 years imprisonment.”
Senator Adamu Aliero ( Kebbi Central) , however added more potency to the punishment by recommending life imprisonment which was unanimously adopted by the Senate.
The five year jail term recommended in the House Bill against offenders of illegal abortion , however ran into controversies in the Senate for lack of clarity on the offence .
Senator Abdul Ningi ( Bauchi Central ), who drew the attention of Senators to the unclear provisions argued that illegality of abortion must be clearly specified as well as those perceived to be involved in it from buyers of drugs to sellers and abortionists .
Besides, Senator Saliu Mustapha (Kwara Central), in his contribution to debate on the bill, urged the Senate to be very cautious on punishment against abortion since not all abortions can be classified as illegal.
The Senate stepped down that aspect of the bill for more legislative inputs by its Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal matters.
