According to the statistics, only four of the 46 incidents involved adults and the rest involved minors and underage people, including a 15-month-old baby. One of the incidents involved a male child.
The most recent incident occurred in August 2022 in Ipoti Ekiti, Ekiti State, when Arowolo Ayodeji, a 55-year-old security guard, admitted to twice having sex with his 19-year-old daughter.
The incestuous father said, "I didn't do it intentionally. I blame the devil for it."
The man allegedly began abusing the girl when she was seven years old, according to the NSCDC's (Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corp) spokeswoman Olasunkanmi Ayeni.
It indicates that the crime has been ongoing for two years, according to Mr. Ayeni.
On February 19, 2022, a 28-year-old man named Audu Dare was placed in a detention facility in Ado Ekiti after fatally raping his six-year-old daughter.
Eniola Aina, Dare's former wife, told the police that although they had been married for a while and had a kid together, she had left his home four years prior because of his casual and carefree demeanour.
"He came to my home in Ilawe, Ekiti, one fateful day and asked to take my daughter out; I agreed. Around midnight, he gave the girl back and left.
Soon after, she started to experience headaches and an aching in her private area. She was transferred to a local hospital, where she confessed to having been raped by her father. On the second day, she eventually passed away.
In a separate occurrence, Sunday Julius, a father of six, was also detained by the police in Lagos State for defiling his four biological daughters, who were ages seven, ten, eleven, and fifteen.
Julius was repeatedly caught in the act by his wife, who said that he was residing with his family in a room apartment in the state's Alimosho region.
"We wed in 2007 and have six kids as a couple.
"Our now-15-year-old first child told me seven years ago that he used to sneak into her room at night when we were asleep, lie on her, and fondle her privates.
"Once more, my second, third, and fourth children (all girls) reported to me that their father had abused them while I was out hawking.
He frequently did it when I was quite sleeping in the middle of the night. They claimed that whenever they divulged the secret, he threatened to hurt them. Recently, I caught him after dark. He got out of the bed when we were both sleeping, turned out the light, and crept across to where our daughter, 10, was. He denied it when I told him the next morning that I had seen him fondling the female. I didn't feed him for four days, and after that he started beating me," the 36-year-old Yoruba speaker of herbal mixes stated.
The man's 15-year-old Senior Secondary School 1 student and oldest daughter both stated that her father first defiled her one evening after she returned from Arabic lesson.
I wanted to take off my clothes when Daddy came in," she remarked. He assaulted me while forcing me to lie on the bed.
"As soon as my aunt entered, he released his hold on me. Later, when she questioned what had happened, I told her that my father had been having affairs with me for a while. My aunt told my mother. Mum accused me of failing to notify her in a timely manner. Daddy threatened to murder me, so I was terrified to tell anyone. I was unaware that he had also had affairs with my siblings.
Other siblings, aged seven and eleven, said that their father had sexually harassed them twice in the course of one night and had instructed them not to tell anyone.
The youngest of them, a 10-year-old girl, said that her father had abused her "several times at night."
When asked why they didn't scream for help, they replied that their father typically covered their lips or hushed them.
In a separate incidence, Sunday Udoh, a 38-year-old policeman from Ile-Oluji town in Ondo State, was apprehended while attempting to coerce his daughter into having an abortion after he had conceived her.
Funmilayo Odunlami, the police public relations officer for the Ondo State command, claimed that the suspect was apprehended at a health facility in Ile-Oluji, where he had reportedly gone to obtain an abortion for the expectant female.
"It was discovered throughout the inquiry that the suspect had been sleeping with the woman's daughter (name withheld), who was about 15 years old, and was trying to get an abortion.
The Gender Office of the State Criminal Investigation Department in Akure is currently handling the issue, he said.
Adeniyi Adeleke, a 27-year-old father, was detained by the state's police a week earlier on suspicion of raping his 10-year-old daughter.
Investigations, according to the police, indicated that Mr. Adeleke committed the conduct for ritual purposes.
Jimoh Rafiu, 46, was also detained for allegedly defiling his 6-year-old daughter under the pretext that his wife wouldn't have sex with him.
The victim revealed the illness by telling members of the Advocates for Children and Vulnerable People's Network that her father had regularly violated her.
According to the victim's mother, whenever she got home from work, her husband would frequently take his daughter's clothes off, claiming that she needed some fresh air.
The victim's mother, who later challenged the man based on the child's testimony, was questioned after the victim displayed signs of pain in her lower belly and between her legs while taking a bath.
The child's father admitted to engaging in the behaviour and vowed to cease it.
After a few days, the young girl's lower abdominal pain became unbearable, which prompted her mother to report the incident to the police station in Idimu and resulted in Jimoh's arrest.
According to reports, Jimoh admitted to the act but denied responsibility, blaming it instead on drink and his wife's refusal to share a bed with him.
Many of those who responded to these instances questioned why males would commit such heinous acts, which are also against local customs and regulations. They urged states to pass legislation calling for harsher penalties for offenders, such as life in prison, the death penalty, and castration.
The Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offenses Court recently decided one of the cases and sentenced Michake Ogbar to triple life in prison for raping his three daughters in Lagos State when they were 10, 20, and 24 years old.
The evidence before the court demonstrates that the prosecution has proven the case of defilement and rape before this court, Justice Abiola Soladoye remarked in delivering the verdict.
The father of the three daughters, the defendant, is found guilty as charged since the burden of proof has been met. This is a terrible situation. It is an embarrassment to parenting.
"The defendant engaged in incest by first ravishing his own daughters. It is extremely perverted and shameful.
The defendant is hereby declared guilty and given a life term in prison for count one. In addition to receiving a life sentence on count two, he also received a life sentence on count three.
Mahmuda Sarki, a psychologist, claimed that the primary reasons of such instances were social, environmental, psychological, and psycho-social aspects.
"There are many factors that might lead to this, but lack of parental support, drug usage, single parenting, inappropriate clothes, and lack of self-control are common triggers.
"Most of the time, the guys use drugs and carry out the act while being unconscious, especially when the moms of the girls are divorcing.
"Some fetish fathers rape their kids as part of rituals, while others suffer from mental instability. These are but a few of the factors, he added.
Regarding the issue's resolution, he suggested that non-governmental organisations step in to ensure that perpetrators receive justice.
He urged parents to forbid immodest clothing and teach their kids how to fight off rapists and speak up in the event of such advances.
Additionally, he suggested that Christian and Islamic clerics preach against rape and urged psychologists to start a sensitization campaign.
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