At least 55 minors were sexually assaulted in Zaria, Kaduna State, between March and May this year.
The Manager, Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Gambo Sawaba General Hospital, Kofar Gayan, Zaria, Hajiya Aisha Ahmed, disclosed in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday.
She disclosed this when she led a team on a courtesy visit to the Area Commander, Zaria Police Area Command yesterday.
Ahmed claimed that the centre received no fewer than 16 reported cases of sexual assault on minors in March, 11 in April and 28 in May this year.
She attributed the rising cases to a lack of punitive measures on the suspects of the assault and urged the police to come to their aid by arresting and prosecuting suspects in accordance with the law.
In another news earlier, a retired Islamic school teacher, Alhaji Mujeed Danbaba, said with the way bandits operate freely in communities of Zamfara State, they may be sponsored by some highly placed persons who are seriously benefiting from the inhuman activities.
Danbaba, who lamented the recent attacks in the state, said the citizens are now living at the mercy of kidnappers, bandits who invade their communities, abducting and raping their daughters and wives and performing other criminal activities.
According to him, the development has gone beyond control, forcing people to live in perpetual fear. Danbaba said that despite the coordinated security networks and public outcries, the bandits had continued to unleash terror attacks on unabated communities.
The Islamic teacher noted that within a few days, terrorist groups attacked communities in Bakura, Maradun and Tsafe Local Government Areas of the State, killing and maiming innocent citizens.
He wondered how the bandits were getting their arms and ammunition that were more sophisticated than those of the military and security agencies.
“Thousands of locals have lost their lives, many kidnapped and several abducted victims released after payments of ransom that involved millions of Naira, while many have been displaced, turning uncountable women to widows and thousands of children to orphans,” Danbaba told Daily Post in Gusau, the State capital.
He said the bandits have proved to be more superior and sophisticated than the government, lamenting how they get their resources to purchase those sophisticated weapons remained surprising and questionable.
Danbaba said: “There is no doubt that the government is generating huge amounts of resources especially from crude oil, yet it cannot purchase sophisticated weapons like the bandits do.
“There is no doubt that the government generates more resources than the bandits but because of lack of political will, the terrorists are having the upper hand.
“It is not clear whether the bandits are operating on their own or they are being sponsored by some highly placed Individuals who are seriously benefiting from the inhuman activities; it is left for the security agencies to find out.”
