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.
Bako was among several others who were granted state pardon by the governor during the lockdown.
“We must apologise to the women for doing this (pardon).
“It is not our wish to do that.
“Had it been that I was aware, he (Bako) would have served his full jail term.
“I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have appended my signature,” the governor said when he hosted the state Action Committee on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, led by his wife, Hajiya Aisha Mohammed at the Government House.
According to the Bauchi Police Command Spokesman, Ahmed Wakil, “When interrogated, he (Bako) stated that he was arrested and imprisoned in the year 2001 and 2015 for the same offence).
Our correspondent reports that Bako had shortly after he was nabbed by residents of the area he violated the girls confessed belonging to a group of people luring young girls to rape for cultic reasons.
Another mother, Jummai Joseph, whose two daughters were raped, decried the long delay in prosecution.
“The process of prosecution is frustrating because it takes months and years even when all the facts are glare,” she said.
Balkisu Alhassan, a mother of another victim attributed the increase of rape cases to the diabolic disposition of the perpetrators.
“Many people are being misled that by indulging in such act, certain benefits such as wealth, power among others, come from it.
“Government must take a holistic approach to the issues of rape before the ugly practice can be tackled in Bauchi state,” she said
A parent in Misau, Malam Hassan Mohammed, said that rapists should be castrated.
Mohammed explained that the reason why rapists continue with their ungodly practice unabated in Bauchi is because of lack enforcement of the existing laws.
“Also, if the government can support poor families and ban street hawking by young girls it will reduce the menace,” he said.
Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, the Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, the wife of Kaduna State Governor, Ummi Nasir El- Rufai have all called for stiffer punishment for rapists.
The Kano and Kaduna States Houses of Assembly have prescribed castration as punishment for offenders while in many states, there are bills in the assemblies seeking clear and ambiguous penalty for such offence.
Last year, the federal government launched the Sex Offenders register to tackle issues of rape in Nigeria, saying the fact that over two million Nigerian girls and women are being raped annually is unacceptable.
Why people rape
Experts say rape and other sexual violence could be committed under the influence of drugs, or to assert power, or for sexual gratification, or as a result of anger with the goal of humiliating or hurting their victim.
Other causes include personality disorders, the influence of childhood environment, family honour and purity, psychological factors and neuropsychological deficits such as difficulties in self- control, perception or memory system problems, and arousal problems.
A clinical psychologist, Samuel Jinadu, said the causes of rape of female minors could be for ritual purposes, personality disorders, the proliferation of social media, and the effect of environment on the psychological makeup of the individuals, among others.
He explained that out of poor judgment and superstition, some individuals may be under the belief that raping a virgin may cure them of ailments and address some life challenges , so rather than going for older girls they go for very young children believing they will be virgins.
He added that this was a dysfunctional thought process which is unfounded.
The clinical psychologist said social media has exposed people to X-rated sites that affect them and made reportage on rape cases go viral than it used to be.
“The influence of social media escalates as a result of loose content that are not controlled.
“Many men view porn site thereby making them aroused and looking for girls and women to ease,” he said.
