The family of Mr. Makan, grandfather of a seven-year-old girl who was defiled by a fifty-year-old man in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State is begging the state government, the police and relevant authorities to intervene in the case to ensure that the perpetrator of the act is prosecuted according to the law.

Narrating her ordeal, the victim of defilement ( name withheld) who has been living with her grandfather since her parents died four years ago, stated that,” on a fateful day, she woke up from sleep and discovered that she was the only one at home so she decided to sit outside their compound then the unexpected happened to her.

According to her, one uncle Dan, whose house is close to theirs came to their compound and asked her to come but she refused. He left and came back pretending as if he was fetching water from the well. He dragged her to his room, removed her pants and slept with her.

The grandfather of the victim on his part explained that when he returned in the evening, he could not find his granddaughter at home, a development he found strange to him.

Eighty-year-old grandfather alleged that upon searching for his grand daughter within the neighbourhood as he kept on calling her name on top of his voice, he saw her limping out of Dan’s room.” Her eyes were looking red, she was sweating, “he said.

” I asked her what happened. then she confessed that my neighbour Danladi Daniel dragged her to his room and had sex with her. I immediately took her to a nearby health centre for a test and it was confirmed that she had been defiled. We also saw blood on her clothes and private part,” Mr Makam added.

However, on the advice of an Akwanga-based NGO, Gamun Centre for Care and Development in Nigeria who had intervened to ensure justice in the matter, the victim was taken to her aunt’s house for safety.

The victim’s aunt, Mrs Talatu Kenneth expressed worry that the health condition of the girl had continued to deteriorate.” She keeps vomiting each time she eats, she does not sleep in the night,she is withdrawn and has nightmares,” she said.

Mrs Talatu Kenneth also alleged that the life of the victim was in danger as according to her, the perpetrator’s relations forcefully seized the blood-stained clothes she was wearing at the time she was defiled.

Protection Manager, Gamun Centre for Care and Development, Mrs Blessing Tulari pointed out that the victim was traumatized due to the defilement and needed urgent medical attention and care.

She decried the increasing rate of sexual abuse against minors in the area as according to her between January and July 2022 12 cases of defilement had been recorded.

Nasarawa State Police Public Relations Officer DSP Ramhan Nansel confirmed the arrest of the suspect Mr Danladi Daniel, a non-academic staff of College of Education Akwanga for alleged defilement of the seven-year-old orphan.

DSP Ramhan Nansel added that the suspect had been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department in Lafia for further investigations.

(Daily Independent)

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