ICIR
HIS legs could not touch the ground from the chair he sat on, so he swung them absentmindedly, and in a barely audible voice, narrated his experience at the hands of his abuser.
Seven-year-old Usman (real name withheld) spends a lot of time with his friends on the streets of Fadukwe, Niger state.
Though he lived with his parents, many of his peers spend all day hawking or training under a football coach, Jibrin Musa. Occasionally, Usman stay around the streets with them.
One day in October 2021, 30-year-old Musa lured him home under the guise of wanting to send him on an errand.
Oblivious of his intentions, Usman followed Musa home, who tied him up, stuffed his mouth with a rag and raped him.
“When I got to his place, he told me he would send me somewhere and gave me N10. He took me to his room, tied my hands and covered my mouth. He brought out his penis and put it in my anus. I started crying,” he said.
Musa was arrested for abusing the seven-year-old, and though he denied violating the child, medical results show abrasion and laceration in Usman’s anus, which suggest forceful penetration.
According to the state’s child rights agency, a court prosecutor, Abdullahi Miyaki, has been assigned to the case, which is currently being heard at a Magistrate Court located at the High Court Complex, Minna.
The case was adjourned in December, and the hearing will resume by January 2022.
Long wait for justice
Child Sexual Abuse is prevalent in Nigeria, but children pushed into the streets for survival are the worst hit.
While poverty and illiteracy have significantly contributed to the number of street children in Nigeria, religion has also played a significant role through the practice of the Almajiri system…
