Call them
monsters, you may be right. Others may even prefer to tag them minions,
which
may also fit. The description is not what the police in Katsina are looking for
at the moment. They are searching for two men who took turns to rape a year old
baby right in the presence of her mother.
With the
manhunt not yielding any result and the initial two suspects arrested now free,
the traumatised mother of the defiled baby last weekend fled her village with
the victim, obviously for safety of mother and child.
Disturbing
rise
Some of the
rape reports may well be described as bizarre even as the perceived motives
remain mind-boggling perhaps comparable only to the age-long tales by
moonlight. When in March a 57-year-old Katsina man defiled her seven months old
step-daughter, he justified the action arguing that he merely executed an
advice revealed to him in a dream designed to cure him of his self-confessed several
years of unbridled quest to always have sex.
Caught in
the act and later paraded before reporters by the police in Katsina, Salisu
Magaji of Mamadi village in Jikamshi local government area confirmed that, “I
actually raped the seven months old baby girl. I actually had a dream about the
incident because I womanise. My first wife is late. She had six children for
me. I thought God had helped me overcome the habit of going after women until
when I married this woman who came into my house with a baby. So, it was
revealed to me in the dream that if I rape this girl I will stop womanising.”
It is not known yet if it worked for him since he has been in prison and
undergoing trial but the baby eventually died after two weeks at the Turai
Yar’Adua Maternal and Child Hospital in Katsina.
Another
confirmed rapist who is also an armed robber, Abdulbashir Bishir, 26, says a
witch doctor recommended sexual contact for him to enable a talisman against
gunshots become effective. When he was eventually caught raping a 13 years old
girl, Bishir explained that, “the herbalist gave me the charm which he said I
should use to rub my sperm after having sex with the girl and that after that,
I should throw the talisman in a graveyard. I held her hand, we entered into
the house and I rubbed my penis on her body but I never had sex with her. She
is 13-year-old.”
Some of the
highly placed in society are also involved in the rape mania as a senior member
of the Katsina State Emirate Council recently lost his position and being tried
in court for allegedly having an unlawful sexual relationship with 15 years old
girl who was in his house on an errand from her parents. After having his way,
the accused reportedly gave the girl N3,000 to take care of herself. She
informed her parents and was later taken to the hospital where doctors
confirmed she was raped.
Earlier in
February, a Katsina Senior Magistrate Court heard the case of a 20-year-old
man, Babangida Saidu, of Shargalle town in Dutsi local government area who was
alleged to have sexually assaulted a six-year-old girl in the premises of
Shargalle primary school where Babangida reportedly lured his prey. And, in
January, the court heard the case of 56-year-old man, Ibrahim Shehu, of Kofa
Guga in Katsina metropolis who forcefully defiled 12-year-old girl and offered
her N60 thereafter.
The latest
absurdity
In fact,
according to the police, the issue of rape, especially involving minors has
become routine in Katsina even as the police are still on the trail of two men
suspected to have defiled a year old baby girl at Angwan Bawa village in Danja
local government area, on May 9. The suspects reportedly snatched the baby from
her mother and took turns to rape her while the mother, Suwaiba, watched
helplessly. The baby was treated and discharged at the Funtua General Hospital,
according to the police and family. When our correspondent visited the area on
Tuesday, the woman had fled her home with the baby. But the husband, Ahmadu
Jbril, 50, father of 10 children from two women, said. “I learnt that some
people advised her to run away”, adding that, “she ran away from the house at
night (on May 19) and I understand it is her mother from the other village who
aided her.”
How they did
it
He narrated
the story as reported by the wife. According to him, “on the day of the
incident, Suwaiba was walking by the road when she met one Alhaji Saleh who she
knows. He asked her if she was going to Bakori but she said she was going to
Ungwan Malamai village in Danja local government area. So, Alhaji Saleh linked
her up with two young men on a motorcycle who said they would take her to her
destination. However, on the way, they stopped near a forest and asked her to
handover the baby to them. She refused but they seized the baby and raped her
one after the other in the presence of the mother.
Then they
fled on their motorcycle. When we reported the incident at the Central Police
station in Funtua, Alhaji Saleh who linked her up with the two men was
arrested. Suwaiba took the baby to the hospital and it was confirmed that she
was raped. The police took Alhaji Saleh to Katsina but he managed to come back.
So, Suwaiba was advised to run away with her baby and it is her mother who
encouraged and helped her to run away.”
The
villagers described the Alhaji Saleh “as a very rich man who lives in Katsina
and Funtua and he wears gold tooth.”
At the
police headquarters in Katsina, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Gambo
Isa, confirmed the initial arrest of two persons, Saleh Suleiman and a certain
Musa. But, according to him, “we have since released the two of them because
our investigations showed that they had nothing to do with the matter. It was
just a coincidence that they were around the area when the thing happened. And,
it was also a coincidence that one of them goes by the name, Saleh, which is
not the same Saleh that the woman talked about.”
Lawmakers
raise concerns
Sun News reported that the issue of
reported rape cases has apparently attracted the attention of the National
Assembly as the Senate last Tuesday decried what it described as rising cases
of sexual abuse in parts of the country. According to the Senate Deputy
Majority Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah, in a motion tagged, ‘Urgent need to
investigate the alarming rate of rape and sexual assault against women,
children and vulnerable people across the country,’ said that, “the Senate
notes the frightening increase in cases of sexual violence, notably rape, where
more than half of the victims are minors, children below the age of consent.
“The Senate
further notes that in most of these cases, the perpetrators are usually
familiar neighbours, employers of labour and close family members; and it is
concerned that the activities of these sexual predators constitute a serious
security threat to the larger segment of our society and are severely
underreported.
“The Senate
is disturbed that on a nearly daily basis, our newspapers are awash with
reports of rape and other sexual violence. It observes that these acts portray
the country in a bad light and are alien to both our cultural and religious
orientation as a people.”
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