A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl after luring her to a farm in a village near the city of Azare, northeastern Nigeria. The girl's father reported the alleged attack to Azare Divisional Police on Thursday, October 29, according to local media reports.
Police response and investigation
The force's spokesperson, Nafiu Habib, is reported to have said the incident happened on October 15. He added: "On receipt of the complaint, detectives rushed the victim to General Hospital, Azare, for medical examination." The suspect was arrested and taken into custody at a police station in the city of Bauchi.
Police Commissioner Sani-Omolori Aliyu said his command takes a zero-tolerance approach to child abuse and gender-based and sexual violence, Nigerian news website Punch reports.
Broader context of gender-based violence
Activists and campaigners in Nigeria called for a state of emergency over sex and gender-based violence last year. The Femicide Observatory reported 17 deaths of women in Nigeria due to gender-based violence last year.
Rights groups have blamed the violence on misogynistic online content and argued that lax laws and prosecutions have created an environment where such crimes are enabled, The Guardian reports.
Statistics and UN findings
One in three women in Nigeria have experienced physical violence by the age of 15, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The UN's sexual and reproductive health agency has said incidents of gender-based violence in Nigeria have grown astronomically as a result of the insurgency in northeastern Nigeria.
This includes forced marriages as well as physical, mental or sexual assaults on women, UNFPA reports.
