• Another bags two years in prison over defilement in Ogun
• Three nabbed for allegedly abducting, attempting to rape teenager in Lagos
• Nigerians justifying rape will be arrested, NAPTIP vows
• YWCA seeks death penalty for rapists
The Kano State police command has arrested a man after 40 people were raped in one town over the period of one year, the police have disclosed.
A mother in the northern town of Dangora caught the suspect in her children’s bedroom. He immediately fled the scene, but neighbours gave a hot chase, caught him and handed him over to the police, it was reported.
Confirming this, the police spokesman, Abdullahi Haruna, said the man, whose identity has not been disclosed, was arrested on Tuesday. He said the cases of rape linked to the suspect included an attack on an 80-year-old and children as young as 10-year-old.
The chief of the town, Ahmadu Yau, said the arrest is a welcome development. “People of Dangora are so happy at this time and we hope justice will be served appropriately,” he said.
Residents also told newsmen that they had been living in fear because they had heard that a serial rapist was climbing fences and raping women indoors. “We can now sleep with our two eyes closed,” one woman said.
Meanwhile, in Ogun State, an Abeokuta Magistrates’ Court yesterday sentenced a 21-year-old man, Musa Anifowose, to two years in the correctional centre for raping an eight-year-old girl.
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Anifowose, who resides at No. 2, Isale Iyemule, Ijebu Ode, was sentenced on a one-count charge of sexual abuse.
The magistrate, I.O Abudu, said the evidence tendered had convinced the court beyond a reasonable doubt that the convict was guilty of the offence. She sentenced Anifowose to two-year imprisonment without an option of fine.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Inspector Bukola Abolade, told the court that the convict committed the offense on May 1 at about 9:00 a.m. at No. 6, Agbaje Street, Sabo area of Ijebu-Ode. Abolade said the convict had carnal knowledge of the girl when she was sent on an errand by her mother. She said the convict accosted the girl and forcefully took her to an abandoned building beside Sabo Abattoir and had carnal knowledge of her.
Operatives of the Lagos police command have arrested three men for allegedly abducting and attempting to rape a teenage girl. The 15-year-old girl was reported missing on June 4, from their residence in Bariga. It was gathered that her mother, Maryam Aipoh, aged 35, filed a missing person report at Bariga Police Division on Sunday after searching for her for three days without success.
Aipoh, it was learnt, could not also reach her daughter on the phone as her number remained switched off. It was gathered that detectives commenced an investigation and tracked the girl’s phone and located it at No. 6, Olumowe Street, also in Bariga.
It was learnt that a police team was dispatched with a tracker and they discovered the girl in the home of one David Analaba, 29, at about 1:15 pm on Monday, June 8. The teenager told the police that she was abducted and camped in the house by Analaba and two of his friends with plans to defile her.
When contacted, police spokesman, Bala Elkana, said all three suspects were in custody and being investigated. He said the girl has been sent to Mirabel Medical Centre for medical examination and possible treatment while the suspects have been moved to the Gender Unit of the Command for further investigation.
In the same vein, the Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Julie Okah-Donli, has said Nigerians justifying rape will, henceforth, be arrested. She gave the warning in a chat with newsmen, on Wednesday, in Abuja.
Okah-Donli lamented that parents were not doing enough to take care of their children. According to her, 90 per cent of rape cases were committed by uncles, fathers and relations of the victims.
She disclosed that NAPTIP’s plan is to discuss the establishment of a special court to try rapists with the Ministry of Justice. She advocated the need to educate Nigerians on rape issues, urging Nigerians to report cases via NAPTIP social media handles on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Meanwhile, perturbed by increasing cases of rape and domestic violence against women and girls, members of the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) protested yesterday, calling for maximum punitive measures against perpetrators.
The women staged a peaceful protest from their national headquarters at Moloney Street to Onikan Divisional Police headquarters at Awolowo, Ikoyi, with placards of various inscriptions, calling on the government and other relevant agencies to protect women from sexual escapades of rapists. They also called for the overhaul of the nation’s security architecture over the failure to protect women.
The National President of YWCA, Mrs Temilade Gbolahan, who led the rally, called for maximum punishment for perpetrators as they are not just defiling them, but also killing them. According to her, YWCA is not just worried but afraid of this precarious situation because girls and women deserve respect and protection from domestic and sexual violence.
“The cases of gang-raping is now at an alarming rate by these animals in human bodies. Our girls are getting more endangered. Is it a crime to be a woman? We call on all Civil Society Organisations to start campaigning on moulding the boy child.”
Also, the immediate past national president of the association, Lady Chikwue Ochiagha, said the association was standing in the gap for all women all over the world and particularly in Nigeria.
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