Two Lagos-based clerics have expressed concern over the rising cases of incest, particularly fathers having sexual intercourse with their underage daughters.

The clerics, who spoke on Friday in Lagos, described the act as evil.

Peter Ayeni, a pastor at Victory of God Mission, Ayobo-Ipaja, who quoted various scriptures to explain his point, described incest as an abominable act in the sight of God.

“Incest is not only immoral and illegal, but it is an abomination unto God which should not be mentioned or heard of,” he said, noting that there were cases of fathers impregnating their daughters.

The victims, he said, might be left damaged mentally and emotionally throughout their lives.

According to him, a man who sleeps with his daughter is cursed, needing “deliverance,” “healing,” and “forgiveness of sins to be free.”

The cleric urged mothers to speak up and stop covering up for husbands who rape their daughters because they want to save their marriages.

“Some mothers will not want to expose their husbands. They will tell their children to keep quiet due to the stigma attached to it,” he said.

The pastor urged mothers to educate their children about sex so they would not be exposed to the wrong counselling.

“Be close to your children, don’t be shy to talk to them about sex and everything, it will help them, and they too must be free to talk to you about everything,” he said.

Mr Ayeni called for strengthening the law against sex offenders to discourage such acts. He cited loneliness, divorce, sex starvation, depression, alcoholism, uncontrollable sex drives, and drug addiction, among others, as contributing factors to incest.

An Islamic cleric, Mukaila Lawal, condemned the act, saying it was against Islam’s teachings.

“The act is disgusting. Islam forbids it. Allah made it clear in many verses in the Holy Qur’an. What would attract a man to have sex with his minor or teenage daughter? Such a father needs psychiatric examinations as no sane man should engage in such,” he said.

Mr Lawal said those caught in such acts should be arrested and prosecuted to deter others. He advised mothers to ensure that their daughters dress moderately at home because men become destabilised when they see what they should not see.

(NAN)