In Nigeria, children without proper parental guidance have been victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by adults who take advantage of their vulnerability. But the journey to justice is usually long, tedious, and in most cases, perpetrators walk free.

HIS legs could not touch the ground from the chair he sat on, so he swung them absentmindedly, and in a barely audible voice, narrated his experience at the hands of his abuser.

Seven-year-old Usman (real name withheld) spends a lot of time with his friends on the streets of Fadukwe, Niger state.

Though he lived with his parents, many of his peers spend all day hawking or training under a football coach, Jibrin Musa. Occasionally, Usman stay around the streets with them.

One day in October 2021, 30-year-old Musa lured him home under the guise of wanting to send him on an errand.

Oblivious of his intentions, Usman followed Musa home, who tied him up, stuffed his mouth with a rag and raped him.

“When I got to his place, he told me he would send me somewhere and gave me N10. He took me to his room, tied my hands and covered my mouth. He brought out his penis and put it in my anus. I started crying,” he said.

Musa was arrested for abusing the seven-year-old, and though he denied violating the child, medical results show abrasion and laceration in Usman’s anus, which suggest forceful penetration.

According to the state’s child rights agency, a court prosecutor, Abdullahi Miyaki, has been assigned to the case, which is currently being heard at a Magistrate Court located at the High Court Complex, Minna.

The case was adjourned in December, and the hearing will resume by January 2022.

Long wait for justice

Child Sexual Abuse is prevalent in Nigeria, but children pushed into the streets for survival are the worst hit.

While poverty and illiteracy have significantly contributed to the number of street children in Nigeria, religion has also played a significant role through the practice of the Almajiri system.

Originally established to enhance quranic knowledge in children, the idea behind Almajiri schools is now being abused as parents abandon the welfare of their children to the teacher, known as ‘Mallam.’

The mallam, who relies on charity for his own survival, is unable to meet the needs of his students.

In most cases, he sends them out to beg for food, exposing them to various forms of violence, including sexual abuse.

In 2017, seven-year-old Nasir was allegedly raped by a 53-year-old fish seller identified as Mai Kifi in Maraban-Jos, Kaduna state.

He was raped severally until he could no longer control his anal muscles, which had begun to breed live maggots.

According to the National Coordinator of Arridah Relief Foundation Rabi Salisu Ibrahim, who reported the case to the police, the abuse had gone on long before it was detected.

“The child could not tell anybody. He became sick, and they did not take him to the hospital until he could not walk, before they took him to a chemist. We had to intervene to get the man arrested,” she said.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-nigerias-judicial-system-frustrates-cases-of-sexual-violence-against-street-children/