717 Rape Cases Reported To Police In 5 Months, Says IGP

ABUJA - The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, says a total of 717 rape cases have been reported in police stations across Nigeria between January 2020 and May 2020.

After a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, June 15, Adamu told journalists that 799 suspects have been arrested in connection to the cases reported.

He also announced that 631 cases have been investigated and charged to court, while 52 are currently being investigated by authorities.

Rape and other sex-related crimes have been under the spotlight in the past three weeks following a string of high-profile incidents that incited public anger.

Last week, all 36 state governors resolved to declare a state of emergency on rape and other gender-based violence against women and children after days of protests in many cities across the country.

Adamu said Nigerians must unite in efforts to combat the scourge of sexual violence and by reporting such incidents and cooperating with authorities to ensure perpetrators don't escape the law.

"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.

The IGP said police authorities have been collaborating with other security agencies and relevant non-governmental and civil society organisations to improve capacity to deal with incidents of rape and gender-based violence.

"From now onward, national partnership with every stakeholder is what we are going into now and not only within the country but within the sub-region.

"We have to partner with organisations that are involved in this. We know we have been working seriously with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and other civil society organisations," he said.

The Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Paullen Tallen, and the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed , were also involved in Adamu's Monday meeting with Buhari, according to the presidency.