A seven-year-old girl (name withheld) has been raped in Angwan Masa, Bosso area of Niger State by one Gambo Jubril, aged 21.
The victim, who narrated her ordeal at the state Child Right Agency, said the suspect lured her when she was returning from Islamiyya school.
According to Mr Ezekiel Gana, the agency’s officer handling the case, “The victim said the suspect sent her to buy something for him when she was returning from Islamiyya school. It was when she returned that he drew her to a corner and forced himself onto her.
“She also did not tell her mother when she got home, but the mother suspected that something was wrong when the girl started crying while urinating. The mother reported the matter to the security, and the suspect was subsequently arrested.”
“The suspect however denied committing the act, and the police are investigating with a view to ensuring that justice is done.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian League of Women Voters (NILOWV) on Thursday protested the increase in rape cases across the country.
The women submitted a letter to the Niger State Government House through the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, on the need for a stiffer penalty for rapists.
Chairman, Niger state, and coordinator, North Central for the association, Dr Aisha Saliu Lemu, said they were at the government house as mothers in protest against the rampant rape of children and women.
“We are calling for a stiffer penalty like death sentence for rapists. Women are being intimidated.Rapists should be killed. They are to die,” she said.
Member representing Gurara Constituency at the Niger State House of Assembly, Binta Mamman, who was part of the protest march, said the matter of urgent public importance regarding the spike in rape in the state and country at large was raised during plenary and at the committee level.
