The Women Affairs Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), has said that it must ensure justice for a 14-year-old girl allegedly raped by a cleric in Gwagwalada.
Pastor Amos Isah, the founder and lead pastor of Prophetic Victory Voice of Fire Ministry in Gwagwalada, Abuja, is currently detained by the Federal Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), over allegations of raping a 14-year-old girl.
Reports said (not THE WHISTLER) that Isah allegedly exploited his spiritual influence to assault the minor.
The victim, a Senior Secondary School student and member of the church’s Media Unit, further alleged that following the rape, her hymen broke and she began bleeding from her vagina.
She added that on seeing this, the suspect gave her N3,000 and threatened to kill her if she revealed the incident to anyone.
The cleric was arrested and detained following a petition by the victim and her parents, alleging that the suspect lured her into his office and raped her on May 26.
However, in a statement on Thursday, the Mandate Secretary of the secretariat, Dr Adebayo Benjamins-Laniyi, said the administration would pursue the case to a logical conclusion.
Benjamins-Laniyi highlighted the administration’s commitment to protecting, preserving and safeguarding the rights and the dignity of all children in the FCT.
She said, “This commitment is in tandem with Section 1 of the Child Rights Act Act, 2003. FCT will not harbour and provide a safe haven for any paedophile, whoever he or she may be when caught. We will ensure that justice is served at all times when the rights of our children are violated.”
She further stated that the secretariat is already in contact with relevant stakeholders in the pursuit of justice to the rape survivor.
“I am following up with the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria and President of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, FCT Chapter over the issue.
“I have also gone to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution to the Federation and Deputy Commissioner of Police, Rita Emesim, in-charge of Gender, all in pursuit of justice to the rape survivor.
“I have equally directed the Director, Child Department of the Women’s Affairs Secretariat to visit the family of the victim. The director had visited the family, discussed and assured them of the FCTA’s commitment to get justice for their only daughter,” Benjamins-Laniyi explained.
In line with FCT’s zero tolerance to all forms of gender-based violence and rape, the Mandate Secretary assured residents that the matter is being handled by the FCT Administration with all the commitment it deserves.
According to her, whoever perpetrates such acts, no matter how highly placed, will be prosecuted and face the wrath of the law with no fear or favour.
She added that the matter of adolescent girls is a priority intervention for the women affair’s secretariat because of their vulnerability at that stage in their development.
“This is a priority for us. We shall follow it through. Nobody will be covered,” she asserted.
Condemning what she described as “cyberbullying” on the survivor, Benjamins-Laniyi warned that a legal action would be taken against anyone found circulating the survivor’s picture on social media.
She particularly called on one Isaiah Gbangbala, a social media influencer to stop posting the victim’s picture on his Facebook page in an attempt to discredit her, stressing that the girl and her parents are already traumatised with ongoing negative social media campaigns compounding their mental state.
“The survivor is not only traumatised but also facing serious health challenges after the incident. She had been bleeding accompanied by severe pains and had to be pulled out of school and rushed to the hospital for medical attention.”
According to the statement, Emesim assured that the suspect would be charged to court hopefully by Thursday, dismissing social media claims that the police were keeping the suspect without charging him to court and considering releasing him saying, “this is a rape case and rape is a federal offence”.
She said, “We cannot charge a rape case to a Magistrate Court, it has to be in a Federal High Court and it is not just charging a case to court, we need conviction and for us to get conviction, we need to do due diligence.”
She added that the matter is being handled without prejudice to the accused, adding that if convicted would bear the brunt of the law.