The Gombe State Government on Monday vowed to ensure justice over the rape of a two-year-old girl by her stepfather following the passage of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act.
The 47-year-old Mohammed Magaji, stepfather to the survivor, was reported by his wife, Hauwau Usman, that her husband took his stepdaughter to his room and raped the minor.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Buhari Abdullahi, in a statement, on Monday, noted that upon the receipt of the complaint, a team of policemen was drafted to the scene and arrested Magaji.
“The survivor was rushed to the specialist hospital for medical attention.
The case will soon be charged to court upon completion of the investigation,” he added.
Leading a delegation of government officials to Jauro Abare Zirin Gaza, residence of the survivor, and Gombe State Police Command, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Asma’u Iganus, decried the act promising that punitive measures will be meted.
She disclosed that the state had enacted the Child Protection Law and Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, stressing that impunity would not be tolerated any more in the state.
“We heard about the rape of a two-year-old girl and the governor is unhappy about it. He has asked us to visit and assure the family of the government’s support.
“The state has enabling laws like the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act with sanctions, the stepfather will face justice; the law allows for life imprisonment of offenders,” Iganus stated.
Continuing, the commissioner noted that aside from life imprisonment which the law allows, 14 years is also tenable. “I came to the command as a follow-up to the current GBV survivor, I had visited the mother. Raping a minor is life imprisonment; the least is 14 years imprisonment. We trust that the judiciary and the police will do their best so that he (suspect) can be charged for the offence he has committed,” she concluded.
