The IGP made this
revelation while speaking with state house correspondents after himself, the
Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, and the Minister of
Information, Lai Mohammed, met with President Buhari this morning over the
increasing incidence of rape cases.
The police chief
said 799 suspects have been arrested so far, 631 cases conclusively
investigated and charged to court, and 52 cases are left and under
investigation. He added that the COVID19 restriction is responsible for the
spike in the number of rape cases.
''We are here to
brief you on sexual and gender-based violence and the action that the
government has been taking, particularly the Nigeria Police. It has come to the
public knowledge now that because of the COVID-19 restrictions, we have a surge
in cases of rape and gender-based violence. These are cases that are now coming
up but we want to let members of the public know that, rape and gender-based
violence have been there.
The law enforcement
agents have been dealing with these cases, in most cases, members of the public
are not aware of the actions that the law enforcement agents have been taking.
The Nigeria police
so far from January-May 2020, we have recorded about 717 rape incidents that
were reported across the country, about 799 suspects have been arrested, 631
cases conclusively investigated and charged to court and 52 cases are left and
under investigation.'' he said
He called on rape
victims to always ensure they report the matter to the police. According to him,
remaining silent gives a perpetrator another opportunity to prey on his next
victim
“It is a very wicked
offense, it is very serious offense, it is very wicked of an individual to
engage in rape or defilement. And there are a lot of causes, some are doing it
for ritual purposes, some are doing it because they are within the family and
they see the victims and have the urge to go into it and do it. But such people
should not be allowed to go scotch free.
I am just to inform
you that the government is doing something about it and you can see me with the
ministries of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed and Women Affairs
Development, Pauline Tallen.
From now onward,
national partnership with every stakeholder is what we are going into now and
not only within the country but within the subregion.
We have to partner
with organizations that are involved in this. We know we have been working
seriously with UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) and other civil
society organizations. So just to tell you that government is doing something
seriously to curtailed this type of offense”’he said
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