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21-year-old meat seller arrested for raping 8-year-old girl in Abuja — GQBuzz

A 21-year-old meat seller has been arrested on suspicion of raping an 8-year-old girl in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Yakubu Diko is in custody after being accused of luring the young girl to his house and raping her about three weeks ago.

Abiodun Essiet, a special adviser to the chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), said Diko walked towards the playground where the girl was with her peers and chased everyone except the little girl, ICIR reports.

He waved to the girl and pretended to send her on an errand.

When she followed him into the house, Diko allegedly forced a towel into the girl’s mouth, held her down and sexually abused her, then warned her not to tell anyone what had happened.

But on the third day after the incident, the victim began to bleed while urinating and cried in pain. Only then did her parents realize that she had been raped.

The parents reported the case to the community leader, who then spoke to Essiet and asked her for advice on how to deal with the rape case.

Essiet advised the chief to report the case to Karimo Sabo station after the girl had been examined at a clinic and the sexual abuse had been confirmed.

The medical report, which was seen by the ICIR, stated that the young girl’s labia minora were swollen and her hymen was torn, indicating forced penetration.

Dikko was arrested and locked in a cell.

However, after the suspect spent two weeks in the cell, his parents asked the girl’s parents for his release and said they were ready to reach an out-of-court settlement.

The girl’s family agreed and demanded the man’s release.

When they arrived at the police station, they were referred back to Essiet, who, as a representative of the AMAC Social Welfare Unit, warned that anyone trying to thwart the case would be arrested for obstruction of justice.

The suspect was therefore handed over to the police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for further prosecution, Essiet said.