A 70-year-old man, Mohammed Sani Umar (Tela), raped an eight-year-old girl twice in Chanchaga area of Minna, Niger State, after which he gave her N80 not to tell anybody about the incident.
However, the mother of the girl who noticed her abnormal behaviour, made her question the girl before she revealed that the septuagenarian defiled her.
“She was sick for some weeks and after every treatment, she was still not very well. Then, a neighbour advised her mother to keep a close watch on the girl, which the mother started doing.
“After some days, she saw some stains in her underwear and asked her what happened to her.
“The little girl took the mother to his place and on reaching there, she just pointed at him.
“On sighting the woman and the girl, he started begging them to cover it up so he will take responsibility,” Abubakar, the girl’s uncle, narrated.
Umar was beaten by angry members of the community before he was interrogated and handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.
“The woman started crying and shouted for help. People came around, dragged him to the family house, where he was beaten and confessed that he had sex with her twice.
“He said that he gave her N50 once and another N30 the second time.
“We took him to the police custody and handed him to the police to charge him to court,” Abubakar added.
The family appealed to the police to handle the matter professionally as they expressed fear that the police could sweep the case under the carpet as Umar is influential in the society.
“The Divisional Police Officer said the case would be forwarded to the state command on Monday.
“We want the police to do the right thing because the man is very influential and has some people who usually bail criminals arrested by the police.
“He knows the rich people in the community and there is a possibility they would conspire with the police to release the man and sweep the matter under the carpet.
“The police should ensure justice is served right in this case,” the family urged.
