An investigation has led to the arrest of a 41-year-old man by the Kogi Command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for allegedly defiling and raping his 16-year-old daughter.
Following the parading of the suspect on Wednesday at the NSCDC Command Headquarters in Lokoja, the state’s Commandant, Ahmad Gandi, stated that the command had received a complaint that had been filed by an NGO on May 5.
According to him, the complaint was filed on a case of defilement, rape, and incest in which the suspect is the biological father of the victim. All three of these crimes were allegedly committed against the victim.
According to the commandant, the abusive act occurred over the course of three years, from 2020 to 2023, beginning when the victim was 16 years old.
Gandi stated that the victim’s younger sister had suggested to her that they kill their father or commit suicide in order to free themselves from the abusive act that was being committed by their father.
The commandant reported that the father had confessed to committing the act and stated that he would be charged with the crime after the investigation was brought to a successful conclusion.
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Gandi lauded the non-governmental organization’s decision to report the incident to the command while simultaneously calling on other victims in the society who were suffering in silence to speak up and report incidents of this nature.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, newsmen were not permitted by the NSCDC to disclose the identity and names of both the victim and the suspect due to the sensitivity of the case in an effort to prevent the victim from being stigmatized.
The victim disclosed to the reporters that she had been subjected to sexual abuse at the hands of her father beginning in the year 2020, which was shortly after her mother had left the family home.
“It took place in the year 2020 when my mother moved out, and ever since then, my father has been the one to engage in sexual abuse toward me.
My father impregnated me in 2021 and then took me to a clinic where he had an abortion performed on the pregnancy I had for him.
“I couldn’t leave the house because of my younger sister because I was afraid my father could do the same thing to my sister,” the victim said. “I was afraid my father would do the same thing to my sister.”
“After terminating the pregnancy, he continued the sexual abuse until I couldn’t take it anymore,” the victim related, narrating what happened next: “I had to report it to an NGO, and they reported it to the NSCDC.”
The suspect, for his part, admitted to having committed the act and that he had actually dis-flowered his daughter. He claimed that he was hypnotized after his wife divorced him in 2020, which is when he did it.
“I am aware that I have carried out the deed, but I am unable to explain how I did it. I have a deep and abiding love for my wife; during the past three years, despite my repeated requests for her to return, she has not done so.
“It is the same stage that I was in when my mother left my father, and it is the same stage that I am in now because my wife left my children for me and went away.” “I love my wife but she never comes back to me,” the suspect said. “I don’t know why.”
In his comment, Mr. Abdulrasak Ibrahim, the Executive Director of the non-governmental organization known as the Islamic Centre for Communication and Creative Thought (ItripleCT), praised the NSCDC for doing an excellent job by jumping into action to arrest the suspect. He said that the NSCDC had done a fantastic job by doing so.
Ibrahim mentioned that as soon as the situation was brought to light, the victim was removed from her father’s home and taken to a secure location so that she would not be subjected to any further violence.
Barr LilianOkolo, the Chairperson of the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Kogi; and Amb. Idris Muraina, the Chairman, of Kogi Network of NGO (KONGONET), both commented on the situation and praised the NSCDC for their proactive approach to handling the case. Both of these individuals are from Kogi.
Okolo gave his word that FIDA would see to it that the suspect was brought to justice in order to serve as an example to other irresponsible fathers who may be lurking around.
Muraina gave her word that the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the state of Kogi would keep their professionalism in mind when dealing with cases of this nature in order to guarantee that the rights of the girl-child would be upheld and that she would be given justice.
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He urged other victims of such acts who were going through such traumatic experiences in the state to speak out, assuring them that it would be pursued to a logical conclusion in order to get justice for them.
The Chairman of KONGONET also made an appeal to the governments of the state and the federal government as well as to the international community, pleading with them to establish a “Safe Keep” facility in the state in which victims of such acts could be housed while the case is being investigated.
According to Muraina, “as of today we do not have such’safe-keep’ accommodations in Kogi where victims of gender-based violence could be kept during the trying period.”
