As Nigerians mourn death of Uwaila Omozuwa, another 12-year-old girl raped in Jigawa by 57-year-old man and 10 other men
While Nigerians are still outraged over the brutal rape and killing of Uwaila Omozuwa and other victims of rape and extrajudicial killings across the country, another 12-year-old was raped by 11 men in Jigawa state at the weekend.
The Jigawa State Police Command said one of the men is a 57-year-old man and all the suspects involved in the despicable act have all been arrested on Saturday.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the men raped the victim on different occasions. They were arrested when one of them reportedly tried to lure the victim to the Limawa Market in of the Dutse Local Government Area of the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria quoted the state Police Public Relations Officer, Abdu Jinjiri, as saying “a 57-year-old man from Ma’ai village, Dutse LGA, was seen in the Limawa Market trying to lure a 12-year-old girl of the same address to seclusion to have sexual intercourse with her.
“In the course of interrogation, the victim listed the names of 11 men, who had sexual intercourse with her at different times, and to this end, the police arrested the listed suspects, who will be charged as soon as investigations are completed.”
Rape cases may be becoming more prevalent in the country but they are not new, there are also debates that they are being underreported due to the myriad of reasons that include stigmatisation, lack of confidence in security operatives and the justice system.
A report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 2015 says six out of every 10 Nigerian children experience some form of violence – one in four girls and 10 percent of boys have been victims of sexual violence. Of the children who reported violence, fewer than five out of a 100 received any form of support.
In 2019, a report by NOIPolls also revealed that one in every three Nigerian girls would have experienced at least one form of sexual assault by the time they reach 25 years.
Despite calls from the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Police Force, Frank Mba in 2019, on rape victims to always report to the police, experiences of past victims and survey suggest that Nigerians don’t have confidence in the security operatives to prosecute rapist and give them justice.
According to NOIPolls, “eight percent of Nigerians disclosed that the incidence was not reported to the police”.
The survey added that 46 percent of those who refused to report to police based their decision on fear of stigmatization, 17 percent are victim’s family who chose not to report, seven percent didn’t make move to report to the Police because they thought that the Police may not take the incident seriously while five percent hold the belief that the Police may fail to solve the crime.
Although rape is punishable by imprisonment for life, with or without caning under Section 357 & 358 of the Criminal Code of Nigeria, cases of convictions are very scarce while reported rapes cases are increasing daily.
In July 2019, the Nigerian Senate while debating a motion on “Sexual abuse in Nigeria: a growing scourge”, sponsored by Senator Rose Oko and 10 other senators, recommended death sentence for rape.
The lawmakers also directed the Committees on Judiciary, Police Affairs, Women and Social Development to review the relevant legislations to provide stiffer penalties against sexual abuse of infants and minors especially.
