The police in Jigawa State have arrested a 60-year-old traditional ruler, Abubakar Ya’u, for allegedly raping an eight- year-old primary school pupil (name withheld). Ya’u, village head of Kargo in the Garki Local Government Area of the state, was paraded on Wednesday at the state police command headquarters alongside three other rapists apprehended in different parts of Jigawa.
The spokesman of Jigawa Police Command, Mr Abdu Jinjiri, a Superintendent of Police (SP) who represented the state’s Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr Henry Fadairo, said that the arrest of the village head followed a complaint lodged by the mother of the victim at the Garki Police Station that her daughter was abducted on her way to school and raped by Ya’u. He said: “Immediately after the receiving the complaint, the police swung in to action and arrested the village head, and evidence has shown that the offence was committed.’’
The command, he said, ”recorded 57 rape cases from January to June, 32 cases against the girl-child and 25 cases of sodomy against minors in the state. Out of 32 rape cases, 28 was charged to court while 25 cases of sodomy was equally charged to court for prosecution”.
One Mohammed Abdullahi, 45, and Naziru Mohammed, 25, were also arrested for raping a 10-year-old girl (name withheld) in his room at Gumel Local Government Area of the state, while 40-year-old Idris Abdul was apprehended for allegedly raping a nine-year-old in Gandun Sarki area of Hadejia Local Government.
CP Fadairo expressed concern on the rising incidence of rape of minors and women. He disclosed that the command had resolved to expose perpetrators in the media as a deterrent to others in the society.
Speaking with reporters shortly after he was paraded, the embattled monarch denied the allegations. ”I swear, I never committed such offence. All what I know is that I have a misunderstanding with the mother of the said girl (victim) over a debt.
“There is a man in the village that is indebted to many people, including the mother of the girl. When his situation worsened, the man ran away from the village to Taraba state. The man later sent words from hiding that his farm should be sold to pay his huge debt.
“On my instruction, the farm was sold for N70, 000 but the money was not enough to pay all the people he was owing, hence, I decided to pay all the people he was owing part of the their money. The mother of the girl (victim) insisted that her money must be paid in full, and since then, she has been keeping malice against me. This is all what I know.”