A 45-year-old man, Abubakar Sulaiman, suspected to be a serial rapist, has been charged to court for allegedly raping toddlers.
Sulaiman, a petty trader residing at Shasha area of Lagos State, was charged before the Magistrate Court at Ikeja on Monday for allegedly raping two sisters.
Police officers attached to Area M Police Command on Monday preffered a two count charge on the suspected serial rapist at the Family Court 6 for having unlawful carnal knowledge of a seven-year-old girl and a five-year-old girl, both of the same parents.
The charge sheet reads that on March 28 at about 4pm at the Ifelodun area of Shasha in Lagos, Abubakar had unlawful carnal knowledge of the seven-year-old girl in his kiosk and at the same place on the same date he also raped her five-year-old sister.
The charge also reads that the accused committed an offence punishable under Section 218 of the Criminal Code Cap 17, Volume II Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria 2003.
Following the arraignment, the accused was remanded in Kirikiri Prison until June 18, 2012 for the hearing of the case.
This is not the only rape case Abubakar will answer to as he was also alleged to have raped another three-year-old and a five-year-old, both of whom he lured to his shop with candy.
Abubakar resides on the same street with the girls’ parents at Shasha.
The mother of the girls said Abubakar is a serial rapist as medical reports showed that he also raped the girls in his shop on their way back from school sometimes in March.
The identities of the girls and their parents have been concealed to avoid stigmatisation.
The mother of the girls said: “One day, in March, my neighbour noticed that her daughter came home with sweets and she decided to probe the girl so that was how she confirmed that Abubakar slept with her children aged five and seven.
"She ran to tell me that my two girls, aged three and five were also defiled by Abubakar and I decided to question my girls, and they confessed to me that he had sex with them in his shop when they were on their way back from school.
"Then he will use a white handkerchief to clean them up.
"As if this was not enough, this dirty old man will kiss them on their lips and threaten them not o tell anybody.
"This man is not only a serial rapist, he is also a ritualist and we will ensure that he is jailed for raping babies.
"We know that he is facing charges for raping my neighbour’s daughters but we have also reported him to the police based on the medical reports that he had defiled my daughters.
"So he is going to face another rape case."
According to the medical checks conducted on the girls by the Orile-Agege General hospital, it was revealed that the girls’ hymen were broken due to penile penetration.
The report further revealed that the four girls had sexually transmitted diseases known as cultured staphylococcus Aureus, which has been treated.
The President of Africans for Human Rights, Afolabi Gbajumo, stated that rape of young girls has been on the increase in Lagos State and severe punishments should be meted out to the rapists.
Gbajumo said: “This matter has been swept under the carpet, as it was seen as an ethnic indictment of an Hausa man by Yorubas.
"But the medical reports show that the man raped the girls and many others who have refused to come out to talk about it.
"So it's very wrong to bring ethnic sentiment into this matter as we learnt that some Hausa youth stormed the police station and wanted to prevent the police from arresting the suspect.
"But when we heard about the serial rapist, we organised the families to stand up for justice.
"This is not a case of Hausa or Yoruba.
"It is a crime against humanity and no tribe should condone it because this man can also rape young Hausa girls tomorrow.
"So what will the Hausas do?
"This is one too many and we must all rise to stop the rape of our girls and babies.
"We got report that this man is a serial rapist and ritualist and we will fight with our whole blood to ensure that the victims get justice."
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