Underage rape cases soar in Gombe

Violence against women and children appears to be escalating in Gombe State, as statistics has indicated that about 200 rape cases were recorded in 2020.

Ten cases of kidnapping were also recorded in the year under review, with five so far recorded in 2021 alone.

However, the state government disclosed that the kidnaps were perpetrated by criminals from the neighbouring Adamawa and Taraba states based on intelligence.

Addressing newsmen in his office at the weekend, the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Ethical Orientation, Batari Naji Dauda, stated that 40 rape cases were reported in Gombe.

While lamenting that the cases were often between fathers and female children, he said the victims were underage.

According to him, “37 were arrested for unnatural (gay and lesbianism) offences, 61 for act of gross indecency and three cases of abandoned children were recorded in 2020.”

He noted that gender-based violence had been recognised as a human rights abuse “that leads to high rates of mortality, including gynecological.”

Zambo, a security expert, explained that the state government, out of lean resources, set up a state security strategic plan to consider “what should be done to ensure that Gombe is secure.

“We have also sent the bill for the establishment of the state security and environmental corps to the state assembly for ratification.

“On approval, it will be domesticated at every of the 114 wards in the state,” he hinted, adding that leadership in the ministry had set up a 24-hour toll-free Security Information Centre (SIC) attending to emergency criminal cases.