from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – SOME men that allegedly raped their daughters, another that reportedly raped his stepsister and two homosexual men accused of violating young boys are among 40 suspects arrested for a spate of sexual violence in northwestern Nigeria.
The arrests have been made between April and June in the Katsina State.
A five-year-old allegedly raped by a 20-year-old man is the youngest victim of the sex abuse spree.
The oldest suspects are aged 65. It is two of them.
One is a man who allegedly raped three boys aged seven and nine.
Another apparently raped an eight-year-old girl.
Most of the suspects have confessed to the alleged violations, according to police.
The arrests have been made during a crackdown by law enforcers during an operation code named the fight against rape, unnatural offences and sexual crimes.
Sanusi Buba, the state police commissioner, is leading the charge against these crimes.
“Police have been recording tremendous achievements in the fight against rape, unnatural offence and other sexual offences, especially against young children,” Gambo Isah, the Katsina police spokesperson, said.
The rape spree is an emerging trend in violent crimes afflicting Africa’s most populous country of an estimated 200 million people.
Nigeria, located in West Africa, is also enduring terror attacks by the Boko Haram in the northeast as well as villagers and nomadic herders clashing over natural resources.
– CAJ News