Court jails man, 31 for impregnating girl, 12

A Magistrate’s Court in Minna has sentenced a 31-year-old labourer, Ndagi Mohammed, to three years in prison for impregnating a 12-year-old pupil.

The accused was arraigned in court on one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child.

The Police Prosecutor, Inspector Alfred Auta, told the court that one Ahmed Zakariya of Okada Road, Minna, reported the matter at GRA Police Station on June 22.

He said that the complainant alleged that on June 20, he discovered that his younger sister was pregnant.

Auta also said that the accused impregnated the girl, a primary school pupil, after having sexual intercourse with her three times in his house.

The police said the alleged offence contravened Section 18 of the Niger State Child Rights Act, 2010.

When the charge was read to the accused, he pleaded guilty and begged the court for leniency.

The prosecutor thereafter urged the court to try him summarily in line with Section 157 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

In her judgement, Magistrate Amina Musa sentenced Mohammed to three years imprisonment without option of fine.

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Okada rider in police net for raping passenger

The Abia State Police Command says it has arrested a man for allegedly raping a female passenger who boarded his bike late in the night.

Commissioner of Police, Adamu Ibrahim, who said this in a statement, added that the incident took place around 9pm at the Ntigha area of the state.

According to the police, the female passenger boarded the bike marked, AB 5023 TB, at Ntigha Junction and was heading for Umukalu Ntigha.

They said the motorcyclist, however, diverted her to a farm on the way where he allegedly raped her.

The police said the randy suspect also dispossessed the victim of N850 after raping her.

The suspect, according to police, will soon be charged to court as soon as investigations are over.

In a related development, the police said it had arrested one Nnenna Ohaja of Ogbodiukwu Umuokpara in the Umuahia North Local Government Area, for allegedly “keeping custody of two boys, aged five and seven, suspected to have been stolen.”

Ibrahim said the suspect had confessed during interrogation that one Obinna of Obingwa Local Government Area, and Onyemaechi Alo from Asaba , Delta State, gave her the children to sell at the cost of N250,000 each.

Consequently, Alo was trailed and picked up by police detectives and he admitted to the crime.

The police said that the stolen boys, identified as Destiny Clement, and Godspower Ikechukwu, both indigenes of Delta State, had been reunited with their parents .

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Man bags 3 years in jail for defiling girl, 4 in Enugu

An Enugu High Court presided over by Justice Pearl Enejere on Wednesday sentenced one Emmanuel Nkemakolam to three years imprisonment for defiling a four-year old  girl.

Enejere sentenced the accused after he admitted guilt to the charge and pleaded for leniency.

The state prosecutor, Mrs Ngozi Avah, told the court that the matter was reported to the police on July 29, 2012.

According to her, Nkemakolam, a resident of No. 7, Chief Nwotokwo Street, Emene, lured the little girl to his room on July 29 and defiled her.

“The little girl began crying and told her mother that her private part was paining her. She later pointed at the accused person for wounding her.

“The incident led to threats by his neighbours who later handed him over to the police after he accepted responsibility,” she said.

“During police investigation, it was discovered that Nkemakolam had defiled six little girls within the area which the accused did not denied.

“It was the recent one which happened on July 29 that brought him before the court,” Avah said.

The counsel to the accused, Mr Charles Umahi, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy as he showed remorse for his actions.

The accused, however, told the court that he had engaged in the act for years now but had repented.

“I have regretted my action. My reason for confessing to the act is for the court to forgive me. From today onward, I promise to turn a new leaf,” he said.

The court sentenced the accused to three years imprisonment and recommended that he should be rehabilitated in a psychiatric hospital. (NAN)

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Rape and sexual violence: Causes and prevention

LAST week representatives of over 100 governments, the Heads of eight United Nations agencies and nearly a thousand experts were in London to launch the first ever International Protocol on how to document and investigate sexual violence in conflict.

Definition of rape
The Oxford English Dictionary defines rape as the crime of forcing somebody to have sex with you especially using violence. Rape simply means unlawful carnal knowledge. Incest is sexual activity between two people who are very closely related in a family. Abominable incestuous relationships are clearly defined in the Holy Bible (Leviticus 18 and 20)

Epidemiology of rape and incest
 Rape had existed and reported since biblical times. Shechem defiled Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob; this incident and the grave consequences are described in Genesis Chapter 34. Amnon the son of David defiled his half sister Tamar; this incident and the grave consequences are described in 2 Samuel Chapter 13. Rape, a veritable sign of evil and debased character, has often been used as a weapon of offence against women and the society (Is 13:16; Lam 5:11; Zech 14:2).
      The incidence of rape cases reported in recent times has continued to rise worldwide as hardly any day passes without a case being reported in the news mediaprint, electronic inclusive of internet. Hardly an hour or day passes without reports of rape cases globally even in countries where rapists may incur the death penalty. The epidemic may be due to increase in reporting such cases by victims, their families and the media, as a result of various efforts by civil society, especially in advocacy, education and awareness about such issues. The methods have become more beastly as infants, children and minors have been raped by pedophiles; gang rape has become the norm and some rape victims have been killed outright. Furthermore, the act of using power, manipulation or force to intimidate, humiliate, exploit, degrade or control another is a major factor in the rape of women. Rape has been used as a weapon in war, in racial violence and in everyday life. Rape is increasingly being used as a weapon of war from the world’s arsenal of cruelty. It has nothing to do with sex, and everything to do with power and the desire to conquer and humiliate.
      Most of the rape cases reported in recent times in Nigeria have shown a shift to children and minors, although few cases of assaults against the aged women, particularly those who live alone, have been reported. Incidents of Internet posting of gang rape, paedophilia and all forms of sexual assault are largely targeted at under-aged girls.         
    Children are particularly vulnerable because they innocently love and trust adults to protect them. Indecent seductive dressing by women is also a contributory factor. Furthermore, the society is becoming more permissive and both young and old now have access to pornography. Young ones are into experiencing, and from being adventurous, they start losing control, which is very central to sexual decorum. There is so much out there in the public domain that gives the impression that sex is cheap and freedom of expression is limitless.
       It is impossible to accurately quantify the frequency of rape cases as the vast majority of rape cases go unreported in Nigeria because of threats of the victims from violators and the fear of stigmatization of the rape victim and her family, and also because of lack of confidence in a justice system where the police is likely to insult and provoke the victims with flippant and derisive questions. Rape victims are not often treated with dignity. Often they are blamed for being raped and are asked to produce “evidence”. Frequency of sexual offences, especially rape, incest and defilement of children has continued unabated because of poor response to reported cases by law enforcement officials – trivializing reported cases, lack of diligence in investigation and prosecution and delays by the judiciary.
     Incestuous relationships abound in dysfunctional families and some women are inclined to cover-up to save their relationship with their husbands. Some fathers, mostly those separated from wives and having custody of the children, are also guilty of this heinous crime.
Milieu conducive to rape: Risk factors
•Leaving a child to stroll or wander away unattended to in a building with multiple tenants or in the market place where the mother is a market woman, is a notable factor. Often a co-tenant sends the minor on errands e .g to purchase an item so as to trap the girl in his room when she returns to deliver the item. Some wicked predators use candies/cookies as a bait for children.
•Leaving a child/children in the custody of male drivers or domestic staff while at work, is also a notable factor. The domestic staff may be male or female. There have been instances when a wicked house girl has paired up sister and brother in her custody to consort with each other. There have also been instances when a wicked female domestic staff has called in her male friends or steward/gateman to rape the child of her boss.
•At times young girls are lured by wicked friends to visit male friends/relations with the deliberate intention to get the innocent girl defiled. Often the wicked friend is someone who has lost her virginity and out of jealousy, wants the chaste friend defiled. Such victims are blackmailed into silence because it is hard to convince anyone that you were raped when you willingly visited the home of the rapist.
•Some minors are raped by live-in relations/friends of the family
•Some rape cases occur at lights-out parties at night particularly when intoxicants are deliberately put in drinks offered to unsuspecting girls. Some rape cases occur when parents leave youths alone at home to hold wild parties, watch pornographic video/TV programmes.
•Some ‘lesson teachers’ have been rapists, when the minor has been left alone after school hours with the teacher.
•Child/girl trafficking continues to be a worldwide crime. At times innocent girls are lured into “greener pastures” to be used for sex trade; some poverty stricken parents sell their daughters into sex trade. Some girls are raped while street hawking at times to promote sale of their wares.
Prevention of rape and sexual assault
      It is the duty of parents to protect their children from ungodly influences by being aware of Satan’s attempt to destroy them spiritually through attraction to the world or through immoral companions (Prov 13:20; 28:7; 1 John 2:15-17).
 Parents, especially mothers must be sensitive to their environment, educate and enlighten their children on this trend and how to detect possible predators and avoid them. In this era of perilous times when homosexuals molest male children, both male and female children need to be enlightened and protected from being sexually assaulted. Parents should instruct their children not to accompany their friends to visit unknown people or places.
      Parents should inculcate in their daughters the moral values of dressing decently so that when they grow up they would abhor immoral seductive dressing.
      Do not encourage male live-in relations/friends. Some rape cases involving minors are carried out by family members. If you have female children in the home, and you must accommodate male visitors, the mother should protect her daughters by sleeping in the same room with them for as long as the male visitor is being accommodated.
       Do not let unauthorized people carry your children to sit on their laps. Some paedophils experience sexual arousal through such postures and may fondle the innocent child. Teach your children not to develop the habit of letting unauthorized people, male or female, lap them. Some women are lesbians.
     The Law enforcement agencies must change their attitude towards this deadly crime. Policing and responding to sexual crimes requires a high level of sensitivity and empathy, and specialized skills in investigating and prosecuting offenders to ensure that cases of rape are treated with urgency. Investigations by the police should be diligently carried out and prosecuted, and offenders given maximum sentences to serve as a deterrent to others.
    Severe punishment – possibly death penalty – should be prescribed for child/sex traffickers, particularly for trafficking of underage girls – minors.
    Concerted efforts and interventions aimed at creating public awareness on the possible risk factors and prevention must be vigorously pursued by parents, churches, other religious organizations and the press.
Safety tips every child should know
*Do not get into any car or get a ride with people without your parents consent.
*Stay away from anyone who follows you on foot or in a car
*Do not go near a car to talk to people inside
*Quickly get away from anyone who tries to take you somewhere
*Shout, yell or scream – “This person is not my father (or mother)”
*Never go to anywhere alone or without adult supervision
*Always ask your parents’ permission before leaving the house, compound or playground area or to go over to a friend’s house
*Never follow, obey or listen to a stranger
*Do not obey anyone who asks you to keep a special secret, if they do, tell your parents or guardians or teacher.
*Tell anyone who wants to take your picture, “No”, and quickly tell your parents or guardian or teacher
*No one should touch you on the parts of the body covered by your clothing, nor should you touch anyone else in those areas. Your body is special and private.
*Do not accept invitations to sleep over in a friend’s home.
•Emeritus Professor Yetunde Mercy Olumide is a consultant Dermatologist at the Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Idi Araba, Lagos. 

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Court remands 35-yr-old man over rape of teenager

ABEOKUTA— An Ogun State High Court sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta, yesterday, remanded a 35‑year‑old man, James Babarinde, for allegedly raping a15‑year‑old girl in the middle of the night at Olorunsogo, Abeokuta.

The accused, who resides at Prison Quarters in Abeokuta, is facing charges of conspiracy and rape.

The Police prosecutor, Jude Michael, told the court that the acussed forced his manhood into the private part of the victim which made her bleed profusely and caused some damage in her body.

He said: “The offence is contrary to Section 32 (2) of the Child Rights Act 2006.

In his ruling, the judge, Olanrewaju Majekodunmi, who went through the first information report against the accused, ruled that the accused should be remanded in prison pending legal advice.

Majekodunmi, however, adjourned the case till July 11, 2014 for hearing due to absence of witnesses.

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Gang-rape of 19-year-old girl: Police launch man-hunt for suspects

Police sources hinted that the Area Commander, ACP Osung Ekpo and the Ijanikin Divisional Police Officer, Ikegwuonu Obinna Chidozie have embarked on series of operations aimed at rounding up the hoodlums that terrorise the area.

The victim was gang-raped when she visited the boyfriend’s wife that just delivered a baby.

Worse still, she further alleged that she was forced to invite her younger sister to the scene where she was also molested and manhandled by the gang. To compound her plight, she alleged that the gang recorded the act in a video with their phones.

The victim further stated that after she and her sister were rescued by a soldier living in the compound, the case was subsequently reported to the Police, which rounded up the suspects.

She, however, regretted that she had to withdraw the case for fear of being attacked again by the cultists.

In her reaction, Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, told Vanguard that the police will never compromise over such issue and will go to any length to bring the culprits to book. “I assure you that by the time investigations are concluded, you will see the result,” she stated.

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Girl,19 beaten, gang-raped by ex- boyfriend, his friends

A 19-year-old girl (names withheld) got more than she bargained for when she visited the wife of her ex-boyfriend called Kingsley, who delivered a newborn baby, recently. Unknown to the victim, she apparently walked into a trap set by an angry ex-boyfriend.

The agony of the ugly incident that followed later was not just that she was gang-raped , her sister molested and thoroughly beaten up, she later agreed to an amicable settlement just because of fear of another attack.

Crime Guard learnt that the ex-boy friend is the son of a serving Chief Superintendent of Police,CSP, attached to a police unit in Jos, while his mother sells food at Area K command along Badagry expressway.

Narrating the incident to Crime Guard , the victim said: “On that day I went there at Ketu in Ijanikin to visit my ex-boy friend Kingsley, whose wife had just had a baby. When I got there, I met him outside, I asked him of his wife, he said she was inside with the new born baby. So, I went inside to see her. When I got into the

house, the wife and the baby were not inside but I met two other guys.

“I decided to go out but the door was locked, I asked Kingsley to please open the door so that I could go since the wife was not inside.

His friends said I would not except I brought my younger sister. Then, I asked what for, they said my sister offended them at a party they attended recently. They said she denied them at the party which led to one of them been beaten by other guests at the party. They said they have been looking for my sister, that I should call her.

“I told them she just lost her phones so there was no way I could contact her. Then, they brought out their knives and axes and asked me to pull off my clothes, and that if I don’t take my clothes off, they would start cutting me little by little and then I will die a slow and painful death. I started pleading with them not to hurt me. But they refused and continued to threaten me.

“When it became clear that they would harm me if I didn’t yield to their request, I started pulling my clothes. After that, Kingsley was the first one that raped me while his friends used their phones to record it. When he was through, the second

one called Ifeanyi aka Fabulous and the third one Asaly, took turns to rape me. After they finished, they asked me to wear my clothes, which I quickly did. They gave me my phone which they sized initially to call my mum, to enable me reach my sister which I did. They made sure the phone was on speaker so that they could hear the conversation between my mum and I.

“Unfortunately, when I called, she said she was far from home where my sister was but promised to call back as soon as she got home. I told her it was urgent that I speak with my sister and she said she would be in the house within the next two hours.   This was at about 12 noon. So, while I was waiting for my mum to call, two other friends of Kingsley came to the house and also raped me. When it was 2pm, they put their knives into a lit stove threatening to use it on my body if my mum did not call back.

“I had to call my mum who said she was almost in the house. When she got to the house, she called me and I told my sister to come to the junction that leads to Kingsley’s house because I didn’t want her to come to the house so that they won’t rape her too.

When she got to the junction, she called me, I pleaded with them to allow me go to the junction to get my sister, that if they went to the junction without me, there was no way my sister would agree to come with them.

Initially,they refused, but later, they agreed and instructed Kingsley and Asale to go with me to the bus stop. “When I got to the junction, because my eyes were very, very red and my face swollen, my sister knew something was fishy, she asked me what happened, I told her nothing that I have been sleeping. And she said that is a big lie that even when I wake from sleep, my face is never swollen.

When she insisted, I told her everything in my dialect so that they won’t understand what I was telling them. But one of them felt I was explaining what happened to my sister, he called the other three who were in the house to come, that I had finished explaining to them.

“When I saw the other guys coming, I collected money from my sister and pretended that I wanted to buy water from a nearby shop, when I got there, I told the woman who owns the shop what happened but she said they won’t be able to attack us outside in the open. While I was there, they started slapping and hitting my younger sister. I went there and was pleading with them to stop beating her.

They said I should keep calm, if I didn’t, they would deal with me also.   So, I did. The attack drew the attention of commercial tricycle riders who were at the bus stop, they came to rescue us but were sent away after they told them it was boyfriend and girlfriend issue. I told them it was not true. “Luckily, for us, one of our neighbours, a soldier who lives in the same compound saw how they were beating us, he alighted from the tricycle to find out why they were attacking my sister.

I narrated what happened to him. After, he was able to rescue my sister from them, they attacked him, when he tried to call his fellow soldiers for help via his phone, they snatched it from him. It was while they were attacking the soldier that I escaped to a relative’s house nearby to call my mum. My sister also escaped after that.

When I got home, I explained what happened to my mum who took me to the police station to report the case and subsequently, Kingsley and two others were arrested while others fled. Giving an insight into her relationship with Kingsley, the victim said, “Something happened between both of us while we were dating; I got pregnant only for me to discover that a lady was already seven months pregnant for him. So, I had to get rid of my pregnancy because there was no way I was ready to become a second wife.

A close family friend who pleaded anonymity also told Crime Guard that the case was settled amicably later after both families met with the police.

The victim, however, said they agreed to settlement out of court because of fear. “After we reported the case to the police, three of the suspects were immediately arrested in order to retrieve the video recording of the barbaric act but no video was found in their phones.

The reason the family resorted to settlement was because we didn’t want our lives to be at risk. This guy and his group are cultists and there is every possibility that they might attack us again if the
suspects prosecuted.






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Osun court remands man over rape of minor

An Ile-Ife Magistrates Court in Osun State yesterday remanded one Damilare Oladoja, 25, in prison for allegedly raping an eight-year-old girl.

The prosecutor, Sgt. Christian Babatunde, told the court that the accused committed the offence on April 8 at about 10.05 a.m. at Gbelekan area of  Ile-Ife.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Babatunde alleged that the accused, who did not disclose his residential address, had  unlawful sexual intercourse with the minor.

He said the offence was contrary to Section 31 (1) of the Child Rights Law of Osun , 2007  and punishable under Section 2 of the same law.

Magistrate Michael Awe, however did not take the plea of the accused, but ordered that he should be remanded in Ile-Ife prison.

Awe also directed  the defence counsel, Mr. Lekan Babatunde, to file a formal application for his client’s bail. He later adjourned the case till June 30 for  hearing.

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65-yr-old man rapes, impregnates own teenage daughter

Like hail, curses have been raining on Samuel Uba, a 65-year-old man in Kalabari Beach, Oguta Local Government Area, Imo State, who is alleged to have committed an abominable act by repeatedly raping his 17-year-old daughter, Hannah Uba and impregnating her in the process. The poor teenager is now saddled with a five-month-old pregnancy.
It was the timely intervention of the police that prevented irate youths in the community from lynching him when they got wind of the abominable act after the violated and traumatized teenager finally summoned the courage to report the matter to a neighbour, who in turn informed the leader of the youths.
Recounting the horrific experience she passed through, Hannah, a JSS 3 student of St. Michael Secondary School Obodo Oguta said: “I have been living in bondage. My father started having sex with me after his two wives died. He would always beat me before having sex with me. I told him to remarry but he refused. Every night he would come and rape me. Any day I refused to have sex with my father, he would beat me and then rape me. He always came when the other children were asleep. It was the fear of my father’s beating that made me not to tell anybody. But one day, I decided to confess to my neighbour. It was the neighbour who discovered that I was five months pregnant. Immediately the news spread, youths in the community gathered to kill my father, but policemen rescued him.”
Pastor Donatus Olisa, General Overseer of Christian Pentecostal Church, where the suspect and his daughter worship said he learnt about Hannah’s predicament from other members of the church.
Shocked to the marrow, Pastor Olisa told Sunday Sun: “The father of the girl, Samuel and his daughter attend my church every Sunday. Some people told me that Papa Samuel was sleeping with his daughter; they said the pregnancy that resulted from it had reached five months. I was deeply shocked. The following morning I went to the house of Papa Samuel and he confessed that he impregnated the daughter. He acknowledged raping her often.”
Hannah’s trouble started in 2012 after her father’s second wife died. As the old man, who hails from Ibiasoegbe in Oru West Local Government Area of Imo State, told Sunday Sun in an interview, he used to have sex with his second wife even when she was sick and on admission at the hospital.
He said: “I had two wives. My first wife died in 2011 while the second died in 2012. I have nine children, two girls and seven boys. When my second wife was on admission in the hospital, I used to have sex with her right in the hospital. But when she died I started sleeping with my daughter when the other children were asleep. I began having sex with my daughter because I didn’t want to be sleeping around with other women.”
Ever since the story broke, Imo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Abdulmajid Ali disclosed that the Command has made tireless efforts to conduct proper investigation into the case, which he described as an abomination. He further disclosed that youths in the area were so incensed that they wanted to lynch the alleged culprit, but noted that the quick intervention of the Divisional Police Officer in-charge of Oguta Police Division, Supol Ikembuchukwu Abugu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police and his men saved the day and rescued the suspect from the hands of the youths. Samuel was immediately taken into custody on April 30, 2014, pending the conclusion of investigations.
Although Samuel has appealed to his community for forgiveness, blaming the devil for the abominable act, the Imo State Police Commissioner, however, assured that he would be charged to court to answer appropriate charges for rape and impregnating a legal minor.

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