By Akeem Oduoye
A 76-year-old man, David Ogunsanwo, is currently cooling-off in one of the cells of the Ogun State police Command for allegedly defiling a 16-year-old girl in Abeokuta, the state capital.
Operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC) , Ogun State State chapter arrested Ogunsanwo and handed him to the state police command.
It was gathered that the 16-year-old girl is currently five months pregnant.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Adijat Adeleye, who confirmed the incident to newsmen, expressed worry over the spate of defilement in the society.
The Commissioner assured that her ministry would follow the matter to ensure that justice is served, just as she also condemned the acts of sexual abuse in the country.
Adeleye, who vowed that the case would be charged to court, appealed to victims to always speak out, even as she called on parents to stop withdrawing cases out of victimisation.
She recalled how a 12-year-old girl was defiled by two men, and the father withdrew the case from the police, regretting that the same girl had been violated again.
“We are aware that cases of violation and abuse are increasing. There’s a huge increase in these kinds of crimes, especially against children.
“The incidents of people going to police, reporting and withdrawing the case are also increasing. And we want to draw the attention of all parents, that if your child is a victim of violation, report the case to the police and do not withdraw it, because when you withdraw the case, it gives the perpetrator the leeway to continue to do it and also do it to other children.
“I am calling on the National Council of Women’s Society. We have a case of a 12-year-old girl, who has been violated before by two men. The case has been withdrawn by the father, and now she has been violated again by another person,” she regretted.
Adeleye, an ex-lawmaker said they should sensitise parents to stop withdrawing such cases “because our biggest problem is that when things like this happen, parents say they don’t want to make it public.”