Three-year-old pupil raped in Enugu

The police in Enugu State, South-east Nigeria, say they have arrested three suspects over the rape of a three-year-old girl in the state.

The survivor is a pupil of Tenderlink School, Trans-Ekulu, a private school in Enugu, the police said.

The police spokesperson in the state, Daniel Ndukwe, in a statement on Friday night, identified the arrested suspects as the survivor’s female teacher, the school’s bus attendant and driver.

Mr Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, said a preliminary investigation showed that the survivor (name withheld) was found to have been raped with physical injuries and patches of blood observed on her private part after her school bus dropped her off at home on Tuesday.

The police spokesperson said the Enugu State Government has shut the school and that the Commissioner of Police in the state, Kanayo Uzuegbu, has ordered the deputy commissioner of police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department to investigate and prosecute everyone involved in the rape.

He said the latest development occurred after the police in the state received from other parents a complaint of a similar incident involving other children at the same school.

‘It’s unthinkable’

Mr Uzuegbu, according to the statement, described the act as “unthinkable” and wondered why the school’s authority would allow such a thing to happen to toddlers they were supposed to tutor and protect.

The police commissioner commended the state government for shutting the school until the conclusion of the investigation.

He vowed to ensure that “everyone found culpable” in the rape were prosecuted in line with the law.

Prohibited in Nigeria

Nigeria, in 2015, enacted the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, which outlawed all forms of violence against women and girls, including rape, female circumcision and forceful ejection.

Offenders, on conviction, face life imprisonment or a maximum of 14-year jail term, depending on the age of the offender and the type of violence committed.

Several persons have been convicted by various courts of rape.

An Ado-Ekiti High Court, in July 2022,sentenced a 49-year-old man, Dele Adeyanju, to four years imprisonment for raping an 11-year-old girl.

A Bauchi High Court, in 2017, sentenced two middle-aged men to life in prison for raping a 40-year-old woman and plucking her eyes.