24-year-old arrested for alleged defilement of 12-year-old girl in Nasarawa

A 24-year-old businessman, Samuel Matthew, has been arrested by the Nasarawa State Agency for Youths Empowerment Scheme for allegedly defiling a 12-year-old girl.

The General Manager of NAYES, Abdullahi Maina, stated this on Tuesday while parading the suspect at the command headquarters in Lafia, the state capital.

He explained that Matthew was caught by some residents where he allegedly had carnal knowledge of the minor, who sold Madidi, a local Hausa food.

Maina said, “When I spoke to the suspected rapist, he was trying to deny that he raped the young girl. She was bleeding heavily when she was brought to our office, so we quickly took her to the primary health care centre, where she was examined and it was confirmed that she was actually raped.

“They had to stitch her and later they demanded that the suspect be brought for examination to know if he was HIV free or not. The test was conducted and he was HIV free.”

The suspect, Matthew, a shop owner who claimed to be 17 years old, denied the allegation.

He said, “I was in my shop and then I saw the girl selling Madidi. I called her to come and give me Madidi and I asked her if she had N1000 change, but she said no.

“I observed that her eyes were red and I didn’t know what happened, so I asked her to go. As she was leaving my shop, she started crying. People were sitting outside and when they asked her what the problem was, she said that I closed her mouth and raped her and people came in and concluded that I raped her, but I am innocent.”

The victim’s uncle, Abbas Ibrahim, accused Matthew of raping his niece and inflicting severe injuries on her private parts, which made her lose a lot of blood.

“He called my niece and told her he wanted to buy Madidi. My niece stood at the door, but the suspect insisted that she come inside the shop.

“When she got in, he took a piece of cloth and covered her mouth so that even if she shouted, people would not hear and he raped her in his shop. I am appealing to the government and security agencies to help me so that my niece can get justice”, he added.

A nurse who attended to the victim at a primary health centre, Aisha Ibrahim, said she examined her and confirmed that she was raped.