Nigerians woke up last year to the bizarre news of women and girls in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states being turned into sex machines by depraved camp officials who insisted on having canal knowledge on them before they are given the basic items they are entitled to. Few months after the ugly trend was reported, a more disturbing form of sexual perversion is said to have become commonplace in Yobe State. Wealthy and influential homosexuals are sexually assaulting young boys and initiating them into the bestial practice, INNOCENT DURU reports.
A ruinous health challenge and warped moral behaviour could soon become the lot of many underage boys and girls in Yobe State. The Nation gathered that for some time now, many children in the state have become easy prey for homosexuals and paedophiles. It was learnt that many boys in the state have had their natural sexual nature distorted by ravenous homosexuals who deploy their time and resources hunting for the innocent children and devouring them at will.
Findings showed that young boys are not only sexually assaulted, they are also initiated into the unwholesome practice by the perpetrators who are said to be wealthy and influential men in the society. Key government officials who swore to promote the wellbeing of citizens are also involved in the despicable act, according to the state police command.
Homosexuals, especially the malleable children lured into the act, medical experts say, may experience anal tears, and it is only a matter of time that every boy involved in the practice suffers such avoidable health challenges and walk about with stitched buttocks.
Odious silence
But in spite of the worrisome dimension the problem has assumed in the state, the attitude of the people is to keep mute over it. Our correspondent observed that the influential people involved in the act might have muzzled the people so much that many of them approached for comments were not willing to do so. Even those who had earlier indicated their willingness to speak on the matter ended up withdrawing into their shells.
That, however, was not the case with Baba Ale Mijinyawa, the Executive Director of North East Youth Initiative for Development, who said his open condemnation of the act has exposed him to threats from the perpetrators.
Mijinyawa said: “We really have the challenge of homosexuality in Yobe. The problem is that most of the people involved are well to do. The only cases that are reported are those of people that are poor. Even when wealthy people are taken to court, they are discharged.”
Reliving some of the ugly incidents, the vocal activist said: “In Portiskum, a 40-year-old man raped two 10-year-old boys. Some community leaders in the area told the parents of the raped children that they could pursue the case to any length but they (community leaders) would be there to defend the perpetrator of the act. The offender is somebody that the people know so well because he is wealthy.
“Twelve cases of homosexuality were reported to me, and all of them involved minors. There are some groups who are in prison right now because they were sentenced to five years imprisonment each. There is another two sets; one was sentenced to two years imprisonment while the other was sentenced to three years. Others are still in court. The boys will tell you that they are not doing it alone.”
Mijinyawa added: “We have some groups of tricycle drivers in Yobe. There is a group of wealthy men who often lodge these boys in a hotel for a week. Each of the wealthy men would then go one after the other to sleep with the boys for one week. After seven days, the boys will be provided with new tricycles. I said this even on the radio.
“Some Muslim scholars spoke against the act and the perpetrators went to them and warned them to stop doing that. The perpetrators have godfathers.”
Mijinyawa said he had been speaking against the act at the risk of his own life. “I do have radio programmes where I speak against the practice, but some people have warned me against what I am doing. But I don’t really care because I have only one life to live. For me, the best thing is to always speak the truth,” he said.
Concerned citizens
A prominent indigene of the state, who asked to be identified only as Hajia for security reasons, corroborated Mijinyawa’s account, regretting that many innocent boys who were initiated into the act are now initiating their peers and practising sodomy with impunity.
She said: “We now have a lot of children engaging in this unholy act. Some are reported and others are not. Some parents don’t want the issue to be discussed openly. The truth is that some people initiated these children into the bestial practice.
“A man recently molested 11 boys. He was arrested, prosecuted and convicted. The man is from Gadaka where homosexual cases are very high. Cases of homosexuality among the youth are promoted by highly placed people in the state. Such cases are not reported.
“One of the victims is my neighbour, but I can’t go on giving details for security reasons.”
The Chairperson of International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Barrister Aisha Godowoli, told our correspondent that her organisation facilitated the conviction of the man that raped 11 boys.
“FIDA facilitated the prosecution of the man that assaulted many boys. He was sent to seven years imprisonment by the Magistrate’s Court. As a mother, I feel so bad to hear such things. These are things that were happening outside but are now right here in our midst,” she remarked despondently.
The Director of Citizens Rights in the state’s Ministry of Justice, Sale Dibo Gadaka, confirmed the menace of homosexuality in the state, but he said the government was on top of the situation.
Sale said: “We have been prosecuting homosexuals. We have even got convictions against some of them. The development is worrisome, but we in Yobe State are trying our best. I think the number is reducing. I cannot tell you that influential people are behind the practice. All we do is that once a suspect is arrested and we have evidence against him, we take him to court. If you want to know this, ask the police.
“I can’t also provide answer to whether it is true that some homosexuals use their influence to get away from justice. It is the police that can give you that answer because they are the ones investigating. Ours is to prosecute.
“When the police have done their work and the file comes to us, we go to court with it. Many have been prosecuted for homosexuality.
“The laws we are working on is to take care of the damages done to these children. They are supposed to be compensated.”
War against menace
The spokesperson of the Yobe Sate Police Command, Jafiya Zuberu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said the police had left no breathing space for homosexuals in the state.
He said: “We have been arresting and prosecuting homosexuals. We have reduced the menace to the barest minimum. For some time now, we have not received any such case. But some months back, there were cases like that. Most of the offenders were arrested, investigated and sent to court for prosecution.”
Zuberu denied that influential offenders use their positions to evade justice. He said, however, that high profile individuals were involved in the crime.
He said: “One or two cases reported involved persons holding sensitive positions in the state government, but we don’t know the motive behind it. The police are part of the ongoing advocacy. I have a number of television and radio programmes on NTA, YBC and YTV for sensitization.
Anxiety over raped minors
Aside from the menace of homosexuality in the state, cases of raped minors, The Nation gathered, is also assuming a geometric progression in the state.
Speaking on this, Mijinyawa said: “The rate of child abuse here is very high. The one that is very common now is the rape cases involving minors. The percentage of victims below eight years is very high. I would put it at 70 per cent.
“Many adults are raping small children. As I am talking to you now, we have a case of an adult who raped a four-month-old baby. The challenge of neglect is so high.”
He blamed the rise on the culture of silence among the people and the judicial system.
He said: “We have this challenge of silence culture. People don’t want to speak out because of stigmatization. Some people want to speak out but the problem that they are having is the justice system. The legal system is not helping matters.
“Some parents would report the case and start going to court. Later on, you would hear that the perpetrator has been sentenced to one year or two years imprisonment. In some cases, the perpetrators are given fines of very small amount of money. This makes many people to lose interest in speaking out or choose to leave things in the hands of God.
“I must tell you that the issue of rape is rampant in Yobe State. This year alone, my organisation has handled over 90 cases. Some have been sentenced, some cases are still in court while some chose to settle out of court. The perpetrators agreed to marry their victims. Some of the victims are about 17 years.”
FIDA boss Godowoli also attested to this, saying: “Cases of older people sleeping with minors are becoming rampant.
“When I went to FIDA office which is opposite the SSG’s office to pray, there was somebody who came to complain on behalf of his sister, a nine year-old-girl. She used to go to her neighbour’s house to play.
“One day, she went there as usual, not knowing that her kid friends and their mother were not at home. She went in and was just playing when the breadwinner of the house brought out a knife, threatened to kill her and raped her.
“Thereafter, he warned her never to tell anybody about it or he would slaughter her. He did the same thing to her thereafter, but unfortunately for him, the wife came and caught him in the act. It was the wife that blew up the matter. He has been arrested and now going through prosecution.
“The rape of minors in IDP’s camp is reducing because of the resettlement process. We still have cases of rape in places where they have been resettled.
Why perpetrators engage in unholy act
Asked what he thought was the reason why adult men rape minors, Mijinyawa said: “I believe the perpetrators of these acts are doing it for rituals. I think some of them belong to secret cults and some are doing it because they want to be rich. I don’t think there is anything they are getting from the act in terms of physical enjoyment. There are so many prostitutes or those you can give money to sleep with. So, why would somebody be having sex with minors?”
For Godowoli, it could “have something to do with poverty, rituals, secret organisations and cultural beliefs.”
Efforts at curbing sexual perversion in Yobe
Checks made by our correspondent revealed that the war against sexual perversion in the state is being aggressively championed by both the state government and private organisations, including international organisations like UNICEF.
According Godowoli: “Earlier on, these cases were not brought to the open because of stigmatization. But we decided to do vigourous sensitization in 2015 through 2016. That was when we had most of these cases coming out. We went into schools and were always in touch with the House of Assembly.”
The state government, according to Godowoli, is really playing its role in all this. “Last year, we started our advocacy for the passing of the Child Rights Act. The act has a problem with being passed in the north. Later, the Ministry of Women Affairs said we could pass it but that we should make some amendments that would be in line with our customary differences.
“The problem we have is the word right. Islam wise, they will tell you which one is oyinbo telling us about the rights of our kids? They will tell you they know the rights of their kids. Even the Christians and traditionalists will tell you the same.
“Later, we advised that we should drop the word ‘right’ and use something else. The House agreed to this and now we have a bill. UNICEF supported the Ministry of Justice to come up with a bill we call the Child Protection Law, which is exactly Child’s Right Act.
“It is going to be passed any moment from now. It is going to be an executive bill. It will be taken to His Excellency who will pass it to the House of Assembly. In all the processes, the House was involved. So it will be easier when it comes to passage.
On his part, Mijinyawa said: “Series of advocacy is being carried out. We go to primary and secondary schools to educate them on gender-based violence and other issues which they were not conversant with.
“Many primary school teachers are being trained by UNICEF and another group on the issue of protection. Here they have protection desk officers in all schools. They are to observe and attend to children who have any form of fears.
“It is the almajiri (beggar) children who are in real danger because they are out to beg. Begging outside, someone could tell them to come and do this or that for them, and they will innocently oblige them because they want to get food or money.
“The Catholic Relief Centre is trying by providing food which the scholars cook for the children. This prevents the children from going out to beg. This is a great achievement I would say, but it is not happening in every part of the state.
“The state government is also trying to have a modern Islamic boarding school where they are feeding the children in the school. With this, the children don’t have to go out and beg. But it is not yet in place.
“We have an advocacy group working with tricycle riders. We told them this is what is happening to your people, so try and see how you harmonise them. Every two months, we speak with them to know their problems and how to tackle them.”
Sale, the Director of Citizens Rights said: “We are currently working on a bill for domestication of child abuse, and the moment we finish it, we will send it to the House of Assembly. We have Child Right Act which is from the Federal Government. We want to domesticate that law to suite our environment in Yobe State.
Medical, legal experts speak
Reacting to the years of imprisonment that some the offenders were reportedly given, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Ladi Williams, said they fell short of what the law prescribes.
He said: “It is an offence punishable by 14 years and it was unanimously passed into law by both Christian and Muslim legislatures.
“Two years imprisonment is too short for that kind of offence- sodomy. If you know that you will serve 14 years imprisonment, you will not go about looking for a man’s ass to burst. The law should be enforced judiciously. Imagine having a son that you asked to go and get a job somewhere and the man would begin to run after his ass! That is very bad.
“It is a mandatory 14 years sentence. The extant law now is 14 years imprisonment. You are asking me why offenders could be given two, three or seven year jail term for such an offence? Don’t you know our judges? Only God knows what happened.”
Explaining the health and psychological effect of the act on the young victims, a public health physician, Dr Rotimi Adesanya, said: “Homosexuality has a lot of medical consequences. These include HIV, hepatitis and all other sexually transmitted diseases. Homosexuals are prone to having all these.
“If the children are coerced into having such sexual relationships, it will affect them psychologically and emotionally. They will not be able to do well in their endeavours. Victims of homosexuality may have anal tear.
“Rape of minors has both medical and legal consequences. Rape is even worse. Apart from those diseases that I mentioned, raped children pass through psychological trauma which may affect them for life.
“It will affect their emotions, their intelligence, academic performance will drop. They will not be able to concentrate in whatever they are doing. They will have low IQ and they always have what we call post traumatic syndrome. After such incident, they will not be able to sleep well.”
The physician advised: “Victims should always seek medical help. Most of them would need rehabilitation. They are seen by psychologists who will counsel and encourage them.
“Medically, doctors will do several tests which will include HIV, Hepatitis and treat those infected. When minors are raped, it destroys the reproductive system of some of them and their urinary system.
“Some of them have tear and urine would be leaking from their body. When some of them get pregnant when they are very young, their reproductive system would be affected and this affects the bladder. There could be a tear in the bladder and as a result, urine will be leaking from their private parts.”
