Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, yesterday, urged the judiciary to accord special attention to issues of rape and sexual assault.

He said the plea became expedient sequel to the flurry of rape and defilement-related cases flooding the courts in recent times.

The governor, who also canvassed review of salaries and allowances of judicial workers to protect the sanctity of the judiciary, said he was jolted that the negotiations on judicial autonomy seemed to have left out the issue of salaries and allowances of judicial officers.

Fayemi spoke in Ado-Ekiti while swearing in Justice John Oyewole Adeyeye as the Acting Chief Judge of the state to replace Justice Ayodeji Daramola, who bowed out from the Bench last week.

He said: “Your Lordship is uniquely positioned to have observed in recent times the increase in matters of rape and child defilement in our courts. My administration has enacted laws and enabled several policies aimed at reversing this scourge.

“We have opened a register for sex offenders and we now publicly name and shame convicted sex offenders. I know that achieving conviction of a sex offender is the outcome of proper investigation and diligent prosecution.”

Fayemi, who applauded and recognised the immense contributions of the retired Justice Daramola to the development of the justice sector in Ekiti State, said that Justice Adeyeye was coming into office at a time when action must be braced up on how to implement the joint agreement on financial autonomy for the state judiciary between the state government, the National Judicial Council (NJC) and Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN).

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