Man jailed one month for raping boy to death to be re-arraigned

Don advocates Internet control to check rape

The Niger State government has ordered the re-arraignment of a man sentenced to one-month imprisonment for abduction and rape of a nine-year-old boy, who eventually died.
The convict, Nuhu Musa, 37, was sentenced to one-month imprisonment with an option of N30,000 fine by a Kontagora Magistrates’ Court for kidnap and rape of a minor. The incident occurred in Kontagora Local Council of Niger. Musa’s jail term ended yesterday.

The Public Relations Officer of the Niger Police Command, Bala Elkana, told newsmen yesterday in Minna that further investigations would be carried out on the case, and that Musa would be charged with murder, rape and kidnap.

He said Musa’s sentence was not commensurate with his offences, adding that the child eventually died from injuries sustained from the rape. Meanwhile, Mariam Kolo, Director-General of the Niger State Child Rights Protection Agency, said the child was abducted alongside four other boys, adding that Musa had sex with the deceased and injured him severely.

According to Kolo, the child was consequently taken to a hospital and operated upon but died the following day. “Musa was arrested, charged to court and given a sentence of one-month imprisonment on a two-count charge of rape and abduction with an option of N30,000 fine.

The director-general said the agency had recommended Musa’s re-arrest and re-arraignment, noting that the state government had given the mother of the child a grinding machine and some money to start a business to comfort her.

Meanwhile, a university don yesterday suggested that one of the ways to reduce the rising rape cases in the country is for the government to put measures in place to control the use of the Internet, especially pornographic sites.

Prof. Bayo Akinde, the first professor of Computer Engineering in Nigeria and former Archbishop of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Lagos, called on government to engage the services of social scientists to study the negative impacts of the Internet use and proffer solution to the challenges.

He spoke at the commissioning of an electronic-library donated to Jasper Akinola Foundation by Lekan Adesoye Foundation (LAF) in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. According to him, governments across the world commit huge funds to tackling negative effects of the Internet, especially in preventing the youths from getting “polluted” by the service.

Akinde said: “The incidence of rape is on the increase in the country, we must not watch pornographic sites. The youths are influenced by hardcore pornography and when they see an attractive lady, what comes to their mind is to be on top of her. Their young mind is perverted. To avert such perversion, government has to act.”

The former university teacher charged the media to help in highlighting the negative effects of the internet for the youths to be guided aright. In his remark, the promoter of Jasper Akinola Foundation, who also was the immediate past Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Dr. Jasper Akinola, praised JAF for the library.