Adamawa Police Arrest Paedophile As Cases Of Sexual Violence Against Minors Rise

Usman Ahmadu, 53, who resides in the Samunaka Yola North Local Government Area of an internally displaced persons’ camp in Adamawa State, had reportedly raped a mentally challenged minor on four occasions this year.

His last attempt landed him in the net of the Adamawa State Police Command.

Ahmadu, a native of Borno State, lives as an IDP where he reportedly received gifts and “undue support/sympathy from the locals”, the Adamawa State Police Command disclosed on Thursday.

The police, in the statement, assured residents of ongoing measures to clamp down on the menace of rape as cases of suspected paedophiles taking undue advantage of minors increase.

On July 23, police operatives in the state arrested an herbalist, Godwin Sandra, 62, for having carnal knowledge of a 14-year-old kept in his care to receive treatment due to her mental condition.

On August 18, the police apprehended Mohammed Abubakar, 94, also a herbalist, known for luring underage girls with items while they pass through his residence. On the 12th of the same month, he met his Waterloo after raping a 13-year-old.

Cases of sexual violation of minors have continued to rise in the state with the perpetrators within the age bracket of 30–70, despite the localisation of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) in 2021.

THE WHISTLER tracked reported cases of rape in the state, and in the last six months, no fewer than 12 under-age girls and two adults experienced sexual violence.

Within the period under review, a trajectory of gang-raping was identified in the state. Suspects in trios reportedly lure their victims in various ways before they are raped.

Notable among such incidences was a gang rape of a 35-year-old mentally-challenged lady on June 20.

Also in June, an 18-year-old boy was arrested by the police after taking the lives of a mother, 36, and her one-year-old for resisting an attempt to assault her while she took a bath alongside her child at a riverside in the state.

On November 20, the police arrested one Enoch Kwaleji, 52, a vice principal at a government girls’ secondary school in the state after he reportedly lured a 13-year-old minor to an uncompleted building, and had carnal knowledge of her.

According to Amnesty International Nigeria, rape cases remain one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the country and it often under-reported.

Also, getting reliable figures for the frequency of occurrence is nearly impossible.

The state police command could not provide data on number of arrests vis-à-vis rape cases.

The United Nation’s child rights body, UNICEF, revealed that six out of every ten children in Nigeria experience some form of violence. One in four girls, and 10 per cent of boys have been victims of sexual violence.