No fewer than 570 suspected rapists were arrested by the Kano State Police Command in the 2016 the State Police Commissioner, Rabiu Yusuf has said.
A statement by the Police Public Relation Officer, DSP Magaji Musa Majiya, indicated that all the 570 suspected rapists were charged to court.
Majiya said majority of the victims were minors comprising of boys and girls while the rest are women. He said all the suspects arrested were adults. He added that a number of suspects have been convicted while some are still awaiting trials. “Also among the suspects, there are some that were accused of raping and impregnating mad women. Some of the convicts have bagged 14 years imprisonment,” he said. When contacted, leader of the Federation of Women Lawyers in Nigeria (FIDA) Kano State Chapter, an organization known for protection of the rights of rape victims in the state, Barrister Husaina Adamu Aliyu said the menace of rape especially of minors has become rampant in Kano.
“We have witnessed a case where a father raped his 3-month-old biological daughter and a step father raped his 10-yr-old step daughter and so on so forth. This problem is becoming something else in this state,” she said.
Husaina said the organization is facing challenges in handling such cases in court largely from the state prosecution, noting that “most of these cases are being frustrated at the Magistrate courts for lack of commitment on the part of government.” She said although few months ago, police and Kano state government intensified efforts towards curtailing the menace, the problem is gradually returning to the state as it is not receiving the deserved attention.
Husaina also said “parents are also not helping matters as far as this problem is concerned; they have developed the habit of neglecting their children, encouraging them into street hawking or sending on errands especially in the night hours.”
The statement indicated that 547 rape cases, 86 murder cases, 72 armed robbery case and 43 cases of kidnapping were reported to the police in the state this year. He said 119 kidnappers were arrested.
The police said 69 people lost their lives through homicide and 112 suspects arrested in the state between January and December this year.
The police added that 27 victims of kidnapping were rescued while 78 arms, 651 ammunitions and the sum of N2.7million were recovered from suspected kidnappers. The command also recovered properties worth over N107million this year.