Benue man accused of raping 4-year-old girl

A 43-year-old man, Dantata Bawa, has allegedly raped a four-year-old girl in North Bank, a suburb of Makurdi metropolis, in Benue State.

Witnesses said that the incident happened on Monday in the house of the suspect who lured the girl into his room in a shared neighbourhood. 

Some of the residents alleged that Bawa had previous records of raping minors while engaging in his menial job as an artisan.

He was said to have been arrested by the police after a distress call and that he confessed to the crime while answering questions from journalists in Makurdi.

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Reacting to the incident, the Coordinator of Benue Coalition of Human Rights Protection (BCHRP), Jimmie Adzande, said his organisation would follow the case to ensure proper prosecution and that the culprit was brought to justice.

Azande, in a statement made available to newsmen in Makurdi, lamented that cases of rape were on the rise, and hence stressed the need for stakeholders, especially Civil Society Organisations (CSOs, the security agencies and the media, as well as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and FIDA, to do more for women and children.

Meanwhile, the police spokeswoman in the state, SP Catherine Anene, confirmed the incident to journalists, saying that the suspect would soon be charged to court.