By TINA TIMOTHY

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on the Nigerian Police Force to ensure justice is speedily served in the case of 12-year-old Precious Yahaya who was allegedly raped by her 54-year-old neighbor and father of three, Ikemba Iron Bender.

HURIWA made this request while visiting the Kabusa Police Station on the outskirt of Abuja metropolitan area to ascertain the progress of the investigation and expressed hope that the FCT Police Command would take the matter to its logical conclusion.

According to a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA said that a from the organisation visited the Kabusa Police station to ascertain the progress of Police investigation into the alleged rape of 12-year old Precious Yahaya by her neigbour, a 54 year old father of three kids, Mr Ikemba Iron Bender.

The statement reads in part: “On reaching the Police Station in Kabusa, HURIWA saw the alleged victim of rape and her poor parents apparently waiting for the D.P.O of Kabusa Police Station to refer the matter to the state Criminal Investigations Department (CID) within the FCT Command.

“HURIWA ascertained that the Kabusa Police Station was with the teenage victim of alleged rape from Saturday, when the matter was lodged by neighbours, till on Monday afternoon, just as the Police officers told HURIWA that the victim was kept so as to obtain medical report because, according to the Investigative Police Officer, the Police did not want the evidence of the alleged rape to be tampered with if the parents were allowed to go home with her.

“But we at HURIWA hereby appeal to the federal government, especially, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to liaise with the Police so as to facilitate quick medical examination of rape victims because keeping a victim of rape in a Police Station and then detaining the suspect could create the impression that the alleged victim is being criminalized.

“HURIWA deciphered that the Women Police handling the matter are determined that the alleged rapist is prosecuted, just as we expressed our gratitude to the IPO who told us that she wants to ensure that the accused is not allowed to continue in the abominable act of sexually violating teens in their neighbourhood.

“HURIWA hopes that the Police will, under no circumstance, compromise this matter of serious sexual violations of a 12 year-old girl by a man old enough to be her Grandfather. HURIWA noticed that the community members of the alleged offender were in their numbers at the Kabusa Police Station, apparently seeking a negotiated settlement.

“HURIWA is therefore calling on the Police in the FCT Command to take this matter to its logical conclusion.

“HURIWA is in possession of the findings of the ECWA Community Health Initiative which runs ECWA Health Clinic in Kabusa and based on what can be read from the record, dated 22/5/2022, the report affirmed that sperm was found in the teenage girl’s private part and this was confirmed verbally by the female Police operatives we interacted with who were not happy that the father of the teenage girl did not report the first incident in which the same accused person was suspected to have raped her but the father said the current case was so brazen because neighbours were the persons that caught the accused person raping his daughter.

“HURIWA was also told by the Police in the course of our visit that the police has in its possession, photographic evidence of alleged penetration by the accused rapist and that it is awaiting a final copy of the medical examination just as HURIWA is in possession of the laboratory analysis confirming the alleged sexual violations.

“As members of the human rights community, we encourage the police to ensure that justice is done even as we make strong case to the federal government for the massive funding of Police in rural areas so that such cases of sexual violations of children by adults are rapidly attended to.

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