IGP appeals to Nigerians to report cases of rape
The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has expressed the readiness of the Nigeria Police Force to deal decisively and promptly with rapists.
Addressing State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday, Adamu urged Nigerians to report all rape cases or any form of sexual molestation to law enforcement officers.
Speaking after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, the Inspector General of Police said: “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.
“I will call on every Nigerian that comes across any victim of sexual offences, rape or gender-based violence to quickly report to law enforcement agents because keeping quiet without reporting it, will give room for the perpetrators to continue to commit the offences.
“It is a very wicked offence, it is wicked of an individual to engage in rape or defilement and there are a lot of reasons for that, some are doing it for ritual purposes and some are doing it because they sit within the family and they see the victims and have the urge to go into it such people should not be allowed to go scot free. ”
He said government is going into partnership with all stakeholders within West Africa, to tackle the menace.
“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 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and other civil society organizations,” he said.
Adamu attributed the upsurge in rape cases in the country to the recent lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“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 has 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 police and other security agencies and other Non-Governmental Organisations, NGOs, have been collaborating, to see to it that these cases of rape and gender-based violence are dealt with.
“The NGOs and Civil Society Organisations that have the capacity to deal with this kind of offenses, have been cooperating with law enforcement agencies in capacity building, management of victims of rape and similar offenses and procedures for collecting evidence, towards successful prosecution. The government has taken the matter to another level now because of the scourge we have noticed.” he concluded.
The IGP said the Nigeria Police recorded about 717 rape incidents that were reported across the country, between January and May 2020.
According to him, 799 suspects have so far been arrested, 631 cases conclusively investigated and charged to court and 52 cases were still under investigation.
