Rapists are on the rampage in Bauchi State as young girls and boys, as well as women, are being raped in different parts of the state on daily basis.
In the last few months, dozens of girls, some as young as six years old have fallen victims of rape being orchestrated by men aged between 20 and 55.
The Bauchi State Police Command Tuesday gave the details of the incidences of rape in the state.
The records released by the command’s spokesman, Ahmed Wakil, revealed how children have been violated either by their parents, neighbours or strangers.
The assaults have elicited public outcry especially from mothers, human rights groups, and religious leaders, who called for urgent action to tame the trend.
The display of 18 rapists
The Bauchi Police Command Tuesday explained how its men arrested 18 people for sexual assault in different parts of the state.
The first set, according to its spokesperson, Wakil, comprised of four men who held a 14-year-old girl hostage for one month during which they repeatedly raped her.
The men are Usman Adamu, 20, Adamu Muhammad, 21, Nura Musa, 20, and Khalid Abdullahi now at large, all from the Nasarawa area in Misau town in Misau Local Government Area of the state.
The 14-year-old has been taken to General Hospital, Misau for medical examination.
It was gathered that the four men have confessed to the crime and are undergoing investigation ahead of being arraigned in court.
Three men also in police net in Bauchi were accused of repeatedly gang-raping a nine-year-old girl inside a public toilet at a market in Gamawa Local Government Area of the state.
They are: Abdullahi Adamu, 25, Abdullahi Abubakar 23, and Auwalu Haruna, 22- who all confessed upon arrest.
In another incident, 25-year-old Haruna Musa was arrested for luring a 13-year-old with egg and mango into his tailoring shop where he raped her five months ago.
A medical examination revealed that the 13-year-old is already five months pregnant, leading to the arrest of Musa.
In another incident, Mustapha Usman, 32, conspired with Dahiru Aliyu of the same age, to have sex with his sister against her wish in their car.
The police also paraded a 46-year-old Umar Mohammed in Azare town of Bauchi State who used N50 note to lure his mentally ill 15-year-old daughter into her mother’s room where he raped her.
In a similar incident, Ibrahim Mohammed, 45, lured the 11-year-old son of his neighbour and sexually assaulted.
Four other suspects were arrested for the rape of two sisters, after the girl’s mother, reported to the police.
The police also reported arresting Hussein Adamu of Tashan Badikko who accosted a woman on her way to seek treatment from a herbalist.
He reportedly demanded N10, 000 and when she couldn’t give him, he forced himself on her.
Operatives from the Bauchi Police Command also arrested 41-year-old Musa Mohammad who raped a seven-year-old neighbour and one Aminu Muhammed who raped a six-year-old in an uncompleted building.
Mothers cry for help
Meanwhile, mothers of some of the victims of rape in Bauchi have called for urgent government intervention, saying there was the need for the establishment of mobile courts to try perpetrators.
Umma Aimana Yakubu, the mother of a 4-year-old girl who was raped inside a mosque on September 3, in Bauchi metropolis, told Daily Trust she was still in shock over the horrible incident.
“What happened to my daughter really pained me…I am still having nightmares.
“I, my family and neighbours are grieving and there is the fear of the unknown because it is not easy to identify who is a rapist unless they are caught,” she said.
“I am appealing to the state government to take stiffer penalty against the perpetrators to serve as a deterrent to others so that our children can live safely in the society,” she said.
Daily Trust recalled that Governor Bala Mohammed had regretted pardoning Yusuf Bako, the convicted serial rapist whose latest victim was the four-year-old girl he assaulted.
Credit ;Daily Trust Newspaper.
