The Bauchi State Police Command has arrested a 50-year-old man and five others for allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl in Katagum Local Government Area of Bauchi State several times.

Among the suspects were 40-year-old and 37-year-old men.

The spokesman for the command, Ahmed Wakil, a Superintendent of Police, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists in the state on Friday.

He said that the case was transferred to the police from a lower Shariah Court in Yayu town in Chinade District of Katagum LGA.

He added that the suspects often lure the minor with monetary gifts of either N100 or N200 to commit their crime.

He said, “The command has arrested a 50-year-old and five others for raping a 12-year girl.

“The case was referred from the Lower sharia court, Yayu town Chinade district Katagum LGA on January 18, 2023, for discreet investigation regarding a 12-year-old girl who was raped on different occasions.

“A discreet investigation was conducted by the Gender Unit attached to the State Criminal Investigation Department of Bauchi.

“The investigation pointed to the following suspects namely; Abubakar Bello (50), Idriss Yakubu (40), Nasiru Dalhatu (40), Idris Sarkin Ruwa (50), Abubakar Jallaba (37) and Mustapha Kawu, male (40), all males and residents of Yayu village, Katagum LGA.

“The suspects confessed to have on different occasions enticed the little girl with monetary gifts ranging from N100 to N200 to have carnal knowledge of her.

“During the interrogation, all the suspects confessed to having had carnal knowledge of the underage victim.”

Wakil said that rape is a ‘capital offence and also against humanity and good conscience’ pointing out that section 283 of the penal code and Section 1(2a-c) of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act of Bauchi State prescribes the punishment for rape.

He said that during the investigation, the detectives of the command uncovered all facts and points to establish a prima-facie case against the accused persons respectively.

According to him, the Commissioner of Police, Aminu Alhassan, directed that the suspects be charged to court to face the full wrath of the law as justice will be served to the accused, the victim, and the society at large.

An Ikeja Sexual offences and Domestic Violence Court yesterday sentenced an Arabic teacher or Alfa, Adam Farouk, to eight life imprisonment terms for defiling eight pupils in his class.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the pupils were aged from six to 11 years as at the time of the offence.

The convict committed the offences from November 2018 to February 2019 on Balogun Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Justice Abiola Soladoye held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt, the ingredients of the eight-count charge bordering on sexual assault by penetration.

Soladoye described the cleric as morally bankrupt and an embarrassment to the Islamic faith.

The judge said that the court did not fall for his lies, noting that the pupils’ evidence was corroborated as they identified the cleric as their teacher who penetrated their vaginas with his index fingers.

Soladoye also held that evidence of the 10th prosecution witness, a midwife with Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF), Mrs Oluchi Nwoke-Okoi, revealed that the pupils had vaginal injuries.

The judge also held that the defendant asked the pupils to turn their backs while he defiled them one-by-one.

She said: “What an Islamic teacher, who took undue advantage of poor students in Islam and messed around with their purity and dignity.

“The defendant is hereby convicted of all the charges and sentenced to life imprisonment on each of the eight counts, but the sentences shall run concurrently,” Soladoye said.

The judge also ordered that the convict should have his name written in the Sexual Offenders Register of Lagos State.

Gunmen have beheaded the Sole Administrator of the Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State, Christopher Ohizu.

His abductors carried out the act after allegedly receiving a N6millon ransom.

The gunmen, who called themselves separatists, reportedly tied his hands backward with a rope before he was slaughtered.

The council boss was kidnapped with two others on Friday after his country home at Imoko community in Arondizuogu area of the LGA was razed.

He was shot on the legs before he was whisked away by his abductors.

It was learnt that the sole administrator was beheaded on Sunday two days later in the forest.

Videos of his beheading surfaced online on Sunday evening.

A source said: ”They beheaded the Ideato North Sole Administrator on Sunday. They posted the video of his beheading with his phone on his own WhatsApp status. This was how people got to know that he has been beheaded.

“He was sliced after collecting a ransom of N6millon. He was killed in such an inhuman way. The videos are terrifying. May God heal our land.”

Also in the video the separatists said: “We are not ESN, we are not IPOB, we are fighting to gain our freedom and there will be no election in the Southeast.”

When contacted, Imo Police spokesman Henry Okoye, confirmed the incident to the Nation.He said: “Mr Christopher Ohizu was abducted and two others were abducted in the early hours of 20th Jan 2023. He was the Sole Administrator SOLAD of Ideator North.”