Dr Ekaete Umor, the Medical Officer, Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), Minna, on Wednesday said 156 children and teenagers were abused from August 2014 to date. Umor made this known in an interview with newsmen in Minna. “I can confirm to you that in 2014, from August to December, 14 cases of sexual assault were reported; in 2015, between January and December, 60 cases were reported. “Also, from January to December, 2016, 61 cases were reported, while 21 cases of rape have so far been reported from January, 2017 till date,’’ she said.

Umor said that about 2‎0 per cent of the figures reported were males, while the rest were females. The medical officer said that the incidence of sexual harassment was becoming alarming in Niger, especially as people were taking advantage of the vulnerability of children.‎‎‎ She said that the cases were under-reported. “The cases in Niger are likely to be more than the figures reported, perhaps because of fear, the personalities involved and to protect the families’ name. “The families are also afraid of stigmatisation ‎and the shame that when such an allegation is associated to a girl, it might make her to be bullied in school and also affect her prospects of marriage.

“Some of the rapists are even the fathers or step-fathers of the girls.‎ ‎Most of the cases are repeated; some children have been abused twice, thrice and more, while some of these vulnerable children were abused when they were hawking. We cannot ask them not to engage in economic activities for their parents; we advise that they should do it in groups,’’ she said.

According to her, if they hawk in groups, somebody among them ‎will raise alarm when somebody tries to lure any of them away. ‎Umor advised mothers to be watchful as family members could also be involved in assaulting their children‎. “There was a recent case we had, an uncle raped his four year old niece and she almost bled to death‎; a lot of suturing had to be done. “The child lost a lot of blood and she had to go through a lot of blood transfusion. The case was reported here, but the family members said they will settle the matter at home. They were afraid of the stigma and shame it will bring to the girl and the family at large.

“We have had cases of fathers raping daughters, while some were step-fathers raping their step-daughters,’’ she said. Also, Mr David Yisa, the centre Coordinator, appealed to parents to stop their children from hawking and running errands at night. He said that until the ugly scourge of sexual assault was completely stamped out of our society, the centre would continue to sensitise people on factors that predispose them to being victims.

Vanguard