Police have arrested a 40-year-old man for allegedly sodomizing his neighbour’s five-year-old son after the parents of the victim reported the incident in Azare, the headquarters of Katagum local government of Bauchi State.
Malam Nuhu Abubakar Azare, father of the five-year-old (name withheld) told WikkiTimes that the abuse of his child had been going on for a long but his family was oblivious to the happening.
“I trust him as a neighbour. I never suspected him of doing this to my family. My children related freely with his children,” Nuhu said.
He alleged that his neighbour once jumped over his fence to abuse the victim right in his house when they went to a condolence visit in a village with his wife a few days ago.
“Recently, a friend of mine lost his daughter. So, we went for a condolence visit but we left our children at home and ordered them not to open the door, they should remain indoors until we returned.
“And my son told me that my neighbour jumped into the house and did the same to him in our house. That really pains me.”
Safara’u Muhammad, the mother of the victim, explained that after seeing some changes and strange behaviour in her son, she enquired further which led to the revelation of the abuse by their neighbour.
“When I suspected something, I asked him a lot before he told me that our neighbour and his adolescent son used to put a finger and something black into his anus. And he would beat and kill me if he tells anyone,” the mother told WikkiTimes.
Malam Nuhu said after reporting the case to the Police Division in Azare, the Police ordered for medical examination which confirmed the penetration of the boy.
“As I speak to you now, he often asks me to scratch the place (anus) for him. He is now more aggressive and behaves foolishly unlike before. I called on the authorities to ensure proper investigation of the matter and the culprit punished,” the mother said in a phone interview with WikkiTimes.
Police spokesperson in Bauchi, Superintendent of Police (SP) Ahmed Wakil, hung up a phone call when asked about the incident.
He declined to answer subsequent calls put through his number and failed to reply to a WhatsApp message after reading it.
Sodomy or homosexuality is a serious crime in a Shariah-compliant Bauchi State.
A sharia court in Bauchi State has in 2022 sentenced three persons to death by stoning after their conviction for homosexual activities.
