…As relatives of former victims, residents seek justice
Alhaji Ganiyu is 71 years old, a hunter and a night guard. He ia also a self confessed paedophile. But he has his reasons for raping minors.
An acclaimed serial rapist has said that his actions were informed by his desire to live long on earth. Making the revelation recently was a night guard, identified as Alhaji Ganiyu. Alhaji Ganiyu, 71, was recently arrested for raping a seven-year-old primary one pupil, (name withheld) inside his one room apartment after luring her with biscuit.
The incident reportedly occurred last month in Oba-Ile area of Akure, the Ondo State capital. The rapist, an ex-convict (having left jail two years ago) was reportedly arrested by men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), after the victim’s mother rushed to the security agency for help.
It was said that on that fateful day in December 2013, while returning from school, the girl would go past Alhaji Ganiyu’s house and being a friend to her late father, she could not refuse to run errands for the septuagenarian when he beckoned on her to get something for him the next street.
The suspect, apart from being a night guard, also hunts animals in the area. While alive, the victim’s father was said to be Ganiyu’s hunting mate before he died about two years ago. When the young girl reportedly entered Ganiyu’s room, he promised to buy biscuits for her and also give her money once he succeeded in sleeping with her.
And he eventually had his way. It was also gathered that another accomplice, now at large, assisted the septuagenarian to carry out the crime. The girl, weeping profusely, returned to school where her strange movement arouse the suspicion of her teachers who hurriedly sent for her mother.
It was when her mother arrived at the school that the hapless girl informed them of what Ganiyu did to her. Hence, her mother alerted the men of the NSCDC. Ganiyu in his statement admitted to his crime.
He claimed that he used to sleep with young girls to prolong his earthly sojourn. “I slept with young girls to elongate my stay on earth. That is all I need to extend my stay. It was not for ritual or money making as people are saying.
All the same, I regret all my actions,” he was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, parents, relatives and coresidents of Ganiyu are now calling for thorough and prompt investigations into the suspect with a view to bringing him to book.
A parent of one of the girls allegedly raped earlier by Ganiyu, but who does not want his name in print on telephone, demanded that immediate and thorough investigation be carried out on the matter. According to the trader, the suspect is a diabolical person who could use means to avert justice and still come back to the community to continue his crime.
“My daughter had once been a victim of this man and no one could say anything because the man is highly diabolical. His antics are well known to the people of the area but no one dared confront him. It is now that the whole world has seen what we have been suffering in silence over for a long time,” the man said.
Another complainant and uncle of another raped girl, identified as Daddy Fash told reporters that the suspect needed to be brought to book to serve as deterrent to other unknown rapists. According to Daddy Fash, his niece, also a minor, was allegedly raped two years ago by Ganiyu having lured the young girl with money.
Daddy Fash admitted that though he was away when that incident occurred, on his return and learning about the incident, he attempted to get the suspect apprehended but was prevented from doing so by the victim’s parents. “This man, to me, is possessed.
The same thing he did to my niece about two years ago and when I heard about it, I wanted to take the matter up to the highest level but the parents of the child were scared of the man. Now he has done it again and it is time we all rose against the man and chase him out of circulation,” he said. The spokesman for the NSCDC in the state had earlier told reporters that the full investigation into the crime had commenced while efforts are on to apprehend the fleeing accomplice.
Source: National Mirror
