The Trade Union Congress, TUC, has called on the inspector general of Police, Mohammed Adamu not to sweep the rape case allegations against the Kogi State Commissioner for Water Resources, Hon. Abdumumini Danga under the carpet.
The Kogi State Chairman, TUC, Comrade Ranti Ojo made the call on Thursday during a peaceful protest in Lokoja tagged ‘say no to rape and all forms of gender-based violence’.
Five months after former Miss Kogi made the allegations which drew public condemnation from far and near, Comrade Ojo lamented that the Nigerian Police under the leadership of Mohammed Adamu had failed to tell the nation the outcome of their investigation.
He described rape as a grievous offence which should be condemned in it entity no matter how highly placed the culprit could be in the society.
The union leader said if the commissioner is found guilty of the alleged offence, he must be punished in accordance with the law.
“We are here to lend our voices against rape in Kogi State and Nigeria in general. Collectively, we must stop rape as it does not speak well of humanity and it was a sin against God.
“I’m calling on the government and institutions that are saddled with the responsibility to implement stiffer punishment against Culprits that are involved in rape no matter how highly placed.
“In Kogi State, it was alleged that the commissioner for water resources Hon. Abdumumini Danga raped a lady. Up till this moment, we have been kept in the dark. Let me make this passionate appeal to the inspector general of Police Muhammed Adamu. This case must not be swept under the bridge. The IGP must investigate this case and come out to tell Nigerians what is the outcome. If the commissioner is found wanting, he must face the full wrath of the law” Comrade Ojo expressed.
Lending his voice, the Executive Director, Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, Idris Miliki said “Rape and assault perpetrated by anybody, whether man or woman is a criminal offence under the Nigeria Law and should not be accepted.
“It is condemnable irrespective of whoever is involved and wherever it takes place or is carried out under any circumstance. Research has shown clearly that women are the victims of rape while men are the perpetrators. We need to have a collaborative agenda against rape.
“There is one fundamental issue I want TUC, NAWOJ, and FIDA to look into. What happened to the case of alleged rape by a government official in Kogi State? Where are we now on the matter? Are we going to allow the matter to die a natural death like many others? We won’t allow this.
“It is more worrisome when a government official, in the calibre of a serving commissioner, could be alleged to be involved in such criminal activities”.
Earlier, the chairperson Women Commission of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Kogi State chapter, Mrs Margret Bose Adeika appealed to the federal government to enact a law that will put rapists in jail for thirty years.
According to her, the high rate of rape cases in the country is alarming, stressing that underage girls and ladies are not safe in society.
She stressed further that the situation has become worrisome, such that parents no longer allow their daughters to visit friends due to alarming cases of rape in society.
“It is disheartening to see the perpetrators of these evil acts going about their normal lives as if they never did anything wrong, leaving a large number of the victims and few survivors in a society where they are stigmatized, called all sorts of name and above all faced with an already failed future”, she said.
It could be recalled that, Hon. Danga was in March 2020 accused of abduction, battery and raping of one Miss Elizabeth Oyeniyi, a Kogi State beauty queen.
Miss Oyeniyi said the commissioner abducted and battered her for advising him to be responsible to his family members.
She explained that when she saw a photo of the commissioner distributing relief materials for COVID-19, she made a post on social media asking him to help his sister who happened to be her friend, with the reference ‘charity begins at home’.
Oyeniyi alleged, “On March 29, the commissioner was shown my post and he ordered some boys to pick me. They took me and his sister from Okene to Lokoja, a distance of about 70kms, and the commissioner personally flogged us.
“He tore my clothes and made a video of my naked body, which he threatened to circulate while he kept me in his Lokoja residence, asking me to make another post apologising and countering my first post where I told him to assist his sister.
“He did not release me that day. In the night, he made sexual advances at me. And I allowed him to have sex with me because of fear. He only took me back to Okene the second day because they had an assignment in Okene”.
