Vigilantes and hunters
have launched a search for the suspected rapist of a three-year-old girl in
Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
The Adamawa State
Command of the Nigeria Police also said that police operatives were also in
what appears now to be a massive search for the fleeing suspect.
The suspect, who has
been identified as Adili Dan Alaji, had last Wednesday, March 11, defiled the
three-year-old girl in Jero Bonyo ward of Girei and took to his heels, leaving
the little girl badly injured and now in hospital.
It was learnt that the
suspect, said from the beginning to have been well known to the parents of the
little girl, was actually an errand boy in the house who used the opportunity
of his closeness to the family to sexually assault the daughter.
The father of the
minor, accused of initially shielding the suspect from arrest for fear that his
arrest and prosecution would expose the incident and attract shame to the
family, is said to have caved to pressure of rights activists and has reported
the matter to the police.
Sources in the village
said he has joined the singsong of getting the perpetrator prosecuted to serve
as deterrent to others, and is accordingly assisting vigilantes and hunters in
the area to try and track down the fleeing suspect.
The state Police
Public Relations Officer, DSP Suleiman Nguroje confirmed that the case had been
reported and the police had joined the search for him.