Outrage in Senate over policeman’s ‘rape’ of two-year-old girl

                                                   

Senators yesterday decried the alleged rape of a two-year-old girl by a policeman in Mararaba, Nasarawa State.

Mararaba, a densely populated area of Nasarawa State, is about five minutes’ drive to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The suspected rapist was identified as Corporal Anthony Onoja.

The senators’ anger followed a motion by Helen Esuene (Akwa Ibom South), who called the attention of her colleagues to what she called the “cruelty to infants” in the country.

In her lead debate, Esuene noted that the country had been witnessing acts of cruelty to babies, including their kidnap, acts of abuse and sale as commodities.

She urged the Senate to note “the recent case of criminality in Mararaba area of Nasarawa State meted out to a two-year-old baby girl by a policeman, who is supposed to uphold the law”.

The senator recalled that on October 20, “the gory news …was carried by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) the sexual assault of the two-year-old infant by a neighbour who is a police officer, Corporal Anthony Onoja”.

Esuene noted that though the matter was reported to the police, it had not been taken to court.

The senator said sections 31 and 32 of the Child’s Right Act “make this case a criminal offence, which attracts life imprisonment or 14 years’ imprisonment, depending on the nature of the abuse”.

She urged the Senate to note that “this is not the first time it has been reported in this hallowed chamber of a police officer sexually abusing an infant girl”.

Esuene regretted that rape offenders were often unpunished.

She urged the Senate to “arrest this impunity as well as weed out bad eggs to protect the image of the Nigeria Police”.

The senator noted that “because of the innocence of our minors, they are very vulnerable to different forms of abuse by unscrupulous persons”.

Esuene added: “Child abuse or abuse of any kind is an issue that touches us. It is an ill will that blows nobody any good, because you don’t know who the next victim will be.

“It is totally unacceptable. Often times, nothing happens; that’s why rape cases are on the increase. We must ensure that if you do it, you must not go unpunished. The laws to deal with this kind of issue are adequate. What we lack is the will to pursue them to the end.”

Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) described the incident as un-African.

He said: “It was a mental case. After reading the story involving a two-year-old girl, I asked: what was the attraction? When some of us begin to think that a man can marry a man and a woman can marry another woman, this is the kind of result we get. We must continue to appreciate our culture, because the Europeans did not meet us as a people without a history.

“By borrowing these bizarre ideas, this is the kind of result you have. The man who did this is not supposed to live; he should die.”

Chris Anyanwu, (Imo East) said: “Things have gone terribly wrong in our country.

“Teacher are destroying students, churches are destroying those who run under them.”

She said when victims of sexual abuse report to the police, they are subjected to harrowing experiences.

Of concern to her was that the country had become a sexual tourist centre where women were used like animals.

The Senate, Anyanwu said, would be failing in its duty, if it failed to enact relevant laws to check the anomaly.

Bello Tukur described the incident as a criminal offence that must be punished.

The Adamawa-born senator regretted that baby factories were springing up across the country where minors are constantly abused.

Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta North) said the incident was unthinkable, adding: “It is saddening that people now abuse a two-year-old baby.

“The baby factory is very sad but more saddening is that babies are produced and sold like common commodities.”

Senator Ahmed Lawan said the police corporal might not be insane.

According to him, some people engage in the dastardly act for ritual purposes especially to make money.

Buka Abba Ibrahim said rapists were shot in India.

He said Pakistan and Bangladesh were also following suit.

SOURCE- NATIONS