A former youth leader of the
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ward 3, Calabar South local government area
of Cross River State, Mr. Augustine Sunday Bassey, popularly referred to as
‘Kufre’ who was arrested on July 10, 2017, for allegedly raping an 11 year old
girl around the Lagos Street axis of Calabar South Local Government Area was
recently released from police detention under very suspicious circumstances.
Mr. Bassey who was detained at
the State Criminal Investigation Department, Calabar, was alleged to have raped
the child in his shop under the pretext of running an errand for him.
While narrating her horrible
experience to the office of Basic Rights Counsel Initiative (BRCI) a
Calabar-based child protection NGO, the victim who requested that her identity
should not be revealed recounted how the suspect, who is their neighbour, had
sent her to buy fermented cassava (popularly known as Fufu).
“When I got back and gave him the
Fufu, he insisted I drop it inside the shop. When I dropped it and wanted to
come out, he pushed me inside the shop, covered my mouth and threatened to beat
me if I didn’t keep quiet.”
Augustine then went on to
forcefully remove her pants and raped her.
For fear of what her mother might
do to her, the victim confided in her cousin who then disclosed the matter to
her mother who went ahead to report the matter to the Police Special
Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
BRCI immediately stepped into the
matter and asked the police to charge the matter to court soon after
facilitating medical treatment for the child and obtaining medical report.
However, it was gathered that the
family of the victim has been under pressure to drop the case with the promise
of receiving compensation from the family of the suspect.
The Program Manager of Basic
Rights Counsel Initiative, Theresa Okpa, however, said that the father of the
victim, Peter Udo had visited their office in company of the victim’s mother
and another relative, appealing to them to drop the matter as they were no
longer interested in charging it to court.
Udo said they will rather settle
amicably with the suspect and his family who had offered N300, 000 in return
for dropping the charge, “All efforts to counsel the victim’s parents on the
need to press for justice for their child and other alleged victims proved
abortive as the family insisted on settling out of court and receiving the said
amount,” She said.
“If this is allowed to fly, then
we have a disaster on our hands, as perpetrators of rape against our children
will continue to walk free, and that means our children are not safe,” BRCI’s
Program Manager decried.
She called on the Commissioner of
Police and other relevant stakeholders in the State to do all within their powers
to ensure that the suspect is made to face the full weight of the law.
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