Mr. Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector-General of Police, has said that 717 rape incidents have been reported to the police across the country from January-May this year alone.
The IGP made this revelation while speaking with state house correspondents after himself, the Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, and the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, met with President Buhari this morning over the increasing incidence of rape cases.
The police chief said 799 suspects have been arrested so far, 631 cases conclusively investigated and charged to court, and 52 cases are left and under investigation. He added that the COVID19 restriction is responsible for the spike in the number of rape cases.”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. 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 have 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 Nigeria police so far from January-May 2020, we have recorded about 717 rape incidents that were reported across the country, about 799 suspects have been arrested, 631 cases conclusively investigated and charged to court and 52 cases are left and under investigation.” he said.
He called on rape victims to always ensure they report the matter to the police. According to him, remaining silent gives a perpetrator another opportunity to prey on his next victim.