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In another case that has highlighted the increasing
child sexual abuses in Nigeria, a 65-year-old
landlord, in Akowonjo area of Lagos, Mr. Ganiyu
Sani, has allegedly raped a seven-year-old girl,
Blessing. But this time, the parents of the victim
believe he did it for ritual purposes.
The civil servant mother of the victim told our
correspondent that on Monday, August 17, 2015,
when she got back from work and was having
dinner with her children, Blessings started to touch
her crotch and complain of pain.
“I felt the part she was touching and asked what
was wrong with her. I thought she was referring to
her lower abdomen and believed it must be
stomach ache. But she insisted that it was her
private part.
“I asked if she fell down and hurt herself but she
simply shook her head. I asked if someone hit her
there while she was playing with other children in
the neighbourhood, she said no. I started
suspecting there was something bigger than what
she was telling me.
“I pleaded with her to tell me what happened.
That was when she told me about what Baba did. I
could not contain my anger. I was shocked, angry
and sad at the same time that such an old man
could do such a thing to my daughter. My daughter
had no reason to lie.”
Blessing’s father, a trader from Ebonyi State,
works in the Eastern part of the country while his
wife and the children live in Lagos because of his
wife’s work.
He was in the East when he received a call from
his wife about what had happened to their
daughter. He told his wife to take a neighbour
along to go and confront Baba, who denied
everything immediately.
Baba Sani, a landlord who lives on renting out
Danfo buses to commercial bus drivers, lives just
two houses away from Blessing’s parents.
Blessing, an exuberant, fair complexioned girl,
was not shy when our correspondent spoke with
her about what Baba Sani did to her.
She explained that the old man usually crossed
from his house to fetch water from a tap beside
their house.
She said, “On Friday, my mummy was not around
and he came to fetch water (like he normally
does). When he was passing in the front of our
house, he asked me to follow him to come and
collect biscuit.
“When I got to Baba’s house, he put off my shoes
and carried me to his bed. He removed my pants
and lay on my chest. When I was shouting, he said
I should not shout, that he would give me biscuit
and N20.
“When he finished, I saw blood coming out and
Baba used a cloth to clean it. He said I should not
tell anybody. He gave me biscuit and N20.”
Shockingly, without Blessing’s mother knowing,
Baba Sani allegedly called the girl and raped her
again the following day, a Saturday.
To dispel doubts about the girl’s allegation, she
was asked to explain the location of Baba Sani’s
bedroom inside the building and her description
was found to be exact description when our
correspondent eventually paid Baba Sani a visit.
Our correspondent spoke with Baba Sani in
company of the director of Esther Child Rights
Foundation, Esther Ogwu, who the case was
initially reported to by the girl’s parents.
The man, who walked with the gait of someone
approaching senility, started off by saying
Blessing’s mother was an acquaintance, even
though the girl’s mother said she had never had
reason to speak to him before.
Baba Sani said, “The girl’s mother once
approached me about a month ago to lend her
N500. She sent her daughter to collect it and I gave
it to them. Later, the girl with her younger sister
came to my house that Friday to ask for money
and I gave them N20.
“I did not do anything. I don’t know anything about
what they have accused me of. God is my witness.
I am just surprised about why I am the one the
girl is accusing of such a thing.”
When asked how the girl could possibly know
where his bedroom was in the house, the old man
said he had no idea.
Blessing’s mother said she had many other co-
tenants and neighbours and said she couldn’t have
imagined asking Baba Sani to lend her any money.
A test conducted at the Mirabel Sexual Assault
Referral Centre at the Lagos State University
Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, confirmed that the
girl was indeed raped as lacerations on her private
part were consistent with sexual assault.
The case was reported at the Gowon Estate Police
Division.
Ogwu explained to our correspondent that she was
disappointed that initially the police did not handle
the case as if they were interested in prosecuting
the man. She said rather than charge him to court,
they released him from custody despite the fact
that they had got the report of the test conducted
on the girl.
The child rights activist said, “According to the
information I was given, the man was pretending
that he was insane when he was arrested.
Everybody in the neighbourhood could testify that
nothing was wrong with him.
“It should not be too hard to enforce the law in
this case. The Child Rights Act is there. It is
unfortunate that the mother of the child did not
monitor her daughter well. There are so many
young children in that neighbourhood that could
have been victims of the man.”
Baba Sani was arraigned before an Ikeja family
court on charges of defilement and child abuse on
Monday. He was remanded in prison custody while
the case was adjourned till September 4, 2015
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