CSOs Call For Justice In Case of Police Officer Rape Of Four-Year Old Girl In Plateau State

Two civil society organizations, the Christian Foundation for Social Justice and Equity (CFSJE) and the United Action for Democracy (UAD), have condemned in the strongest terms what they called the unethical, unprofessional, criminal, callous and inhuman behaviour of some officers of the Special Task Force (STF) in Plateau State.
In a joint statement today, the groups said that a Police Officer attached to Sector 7 of the STF in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of the state wickedly raped a four year old minor, and that the Commandant has confirmed the incident as well as the transfer of the suspect to the Police Headquarters in Jos for prosecution.
“The victim was subsequently rushed to the General Hospital, Barkin Ladi to stop the severe bleeding and given general treatments,” the statement said.  “The unholy act of this Police Officer has no doubt exposed the innocent kid and family to serious psychological trauma and Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STDs) including but not limited to the deadly Human Immuno-Defiency Virus and Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS).”

CFSJE and UAD said that in a separate development, a group of well-armed STF officers stormed Anguwa Rukuba area of Jos metropolis and caused panic via their irrational and unreasonable shootings, and assaulted some residents in the search for revenge for an earlier assault on a girlfriend of one of their colleague.
“As human rights and pro-democracy organisations, we are gravely concerned about the safety of young girls and women in the state as a result of so many sexual harassments by security agents who have unlimited and unrestricted access to weapons that can be used to threaten the lives of innocent young girls and women whenever they repel their advances,” the statement said.
The groups described as appalling, reports of security agents mobilised to the state on a peace keeping mission but who are now contributing to the conflicts, as angry youths in expressing their grievances blocked the road to protest the dastardly behaviour of the security agents.
They warned that they will follow the rape case to a logical conclusion, as many cases against security agents over the years have been swept under the carpet, urging the police in Plateau State to make sure that the culprit is prosecuted so as to secure justice for the innocent girl, her family, womanhood and humanity.
“We also urge the Commander of the Special Task Force, Plateau State to thoroughly investigate the incident at the Anguwa Rukuba area of the state on Saturday, March 22, 2014 and decisively punish officers responsible for the illegal operation that led to unrest in the area,” they said.
The groups also drew attention to the sporadic gunmen attacks on distinct villages in various parts of the state, including Rantya in Low Cost Area of Jos South Local Government Area that was attacked by some alleged Fulani herdsmen last Saturday while the peace keepers are busied committing atrocities elsewhere.
They reminded the STF that there remains a lot to do to stop those attacks, including reviewing their strategies to deal with emerging trends of castle rustling in the state which most often has been the root cause of many attacks on innocent villagers.