With the recurrent and alarming rape by hypnotists across the country, the International Federation of Female Lawyers on Sunday vowed to go all out to apprehend and persecute a serial spiritualist that drugged and raped a 33-year-old woman in the guise of delivering her from spiritual problems.
It was gathered that the spiritualist mixed some concoction with water and gave the woman to drink for spiritual cleansing, after which she slept off and he had his way, which resulted in pregnancy.
The suspect, Mallam Haruna Bello, a native of Jikin Katangan in Kaduna State, claimed to have solutions to the spiritual problems of the victim, Janila Ibrahim, who hails from Kano but resides in Minna, the Niger State capital.
The Chairperson of FIDA in Niger State, Fati Suleiman Takuma, disclosed this to journalists in Minna, while presenting food items, clothing materials and undisclosed amount of money to the victim, who gave birth last week.
Takuma said all hands must be on deck to ensure the elimination of any form of violence against women and children, especially the rape cases, adding that the association will go all out to persecute Mallam Bello and bring him to book.
According to her: “We have been taking care of the victim, but unfortunately the offence took place in Kaduna.
“We have contacted FIDA chairperson in Kaduna State for prompt action.
“I have sent the details so that she can take up from there to ensure that the suspect is apprehended and charged to court accordingly.
“This scourge can have significant harmful, negative and lasting physical, psychological and reproductive health consequences for the victim, family and community.”
Takuma however advised that women, especially young ladies, should not go anywhere unaccompanied.
She said: “If she (the victim) had gone with someone, it would have been difficult for the suspect to do what he did.
“Because she went alone, he took advantage of that, drugged and had a canal knowledge of her.”
The chairperson recalled that perpetrators of rape in the country cut across class, status and religious orientation comprising pastors, imams, traditional rulers, teachers, police, military and ordinary citizens.
The percentage of rape, according to her, by acquaintance is far higher than rape by strangers and rape victims’ cuts across ages with the rape of minors and the elderly on a startling increase in Nigeria.
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