There's
nothing as terrible as finding out your three-year-old daughter has been raped
by a 22-year-old man, this is the case of
Mrs Kafayat Abiola who found out about her daughter's rape last week and
reported it to the police.
According
to the mother of the three-year-old girl who resides at Baba Isale Compound,
Kudeti area, Ibadan, the suspect took advantage of the little girl’s’ condition
to perpetrate the evil act.
She added that when the girl’s behaviour was
abnormal, she tried to confirm her strange reaction where the girl was able to
narrate what happened.
On sensing
the development, Mrs Abiola was said to have raised the alarm and reported the
matter to the police. The victim was then taken to the Adeoyo Hospital, Yemetu,
Ibadan, where medical examination was
conducted on the girl and penetration was confirmed.
The
suspect, Chukwu, sources informed, is currently undergoing interrogation at the
State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Iyaganku, Ibadan.
When
contacted, the Public Relations Officer, Oyo State Police Commnad, DSP Olabisi
Clet-
Ilobanafor, said the incident was a sad and unfortunate one.
“The
suspect committed a crime against a minor and a physically challenged person.
He will be charged to court after preliminary investigation has been conducted
and if the court finds him culpable, he has to face the music.”
A human
rights activist with the Child Protection Network, an NGO based in Ibadan, who
preferred anonymity, linked the menace to the high divorce rate in the society.
According to him, many couples had abandoned their vulnerable children to be
raped by idle men.
“I will
also advise our girls to shun provocative dresses,” he said.
He called
for the collaboration of all stakeholders, urging them to be vigilant and to
report suspected rapists. He also called on the police and the courts to
urgently tackle the numerous rape cases on ground.
“If we have
quick dispensation of rape cases, it would discourage the offenders,” he said.
Grace
Akinsehinwa, prosecutor and an Assistant Superintendent of Police, who has
prosecuted many rape cases in Ibadan, blamed many parents and guardians, whose
children and wards have been defiled or raped, for not pursuing their cases to
logical conclusion.
She added
that those parents and guardians would rather prefer to keep mute than expose
those involved, all in the name of protecting the minor’s future.
She noted
that the Nigeria Police had been educating parents, guardians and women on the
readiness of the police to assist them in the prosecution of cases. DSP Olabisi
Clet-Ilobanafor, the
Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo State Command,
condemned the act, saying that men who engaged in the act had fallen below the
animal level.
Clet-Ilobanafor,
however, said that the command would soon begin a Police community outreach
programme against rape. She said, “The programme, when it starts, would aim at
enlightening girls on how to avoid being raped by men.”
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