A 30-year-old Islamic cleric, Sulaimon Adigun, has allegedly raped a 10-year-old girl, who is a student at his Qur’anic school.
The cleric, who is also an artisan specialising in printing, lives at number 43, Olorunkemi Street, in the Bariga area of Lagos.
The victim (names withheld) is a Junior Secondary School 1 student of Eva Adelaja Girls Secondary School, Bariga.
Our correspondent gathered that the cleric started the alleged defilement since January last year, when the minor was still at the age of nine years and in
primary six.
The suspect has since been arrested by the police in the Bariga Division.
But our correspondent learnt that some officers of the Gender Unit of the division, where the case was transferred, had been pressurising the victim’s mother to withdraw the case.
Sources revealed that the suspect’s family had allegedly succeeded in bribing the
police.
Speaking with our correspondent, a social worker, Mr. Toyin Okanlawon, said the suspect’s family had offered to pay him N1.5 million to cover up the matter, adding that he declined the offer.
He said, “The family has called me to offer me N1.5 million, which I turned down.
“And to my surprise, instead of prosecuting the suspect, it is the gender unit that is advocating and forcing the mother of the victim to withdraw the case because of the huge amount of money the suspect’s family wants to pay.
“They told me frankly that they had now agreed to collect money. I don’t know what kind of country we are in for God’s sake. They don’t even pity the 10-year-old-girl and her widowed mother. Please, justice must be done.”
The rights activist said the Directorate of Public Prosecution had been informed in order to ensure the prosecution of the
suspect.
