Jonathan Nwokpor
According to Lubabatu Yusuf, a 20-year-old housewife, she was raped in front of her two children by Sani Saleh Mu’azu, a Deputy Superintendent of the Nigerian Immigration Service and her husband’s benefactor.
Lubabatu related her ordeal to the media in Bauchi on Monday, stating that the incident happened on December 9, 2023, when Mu’azu visited them.
The victim claims her husband reported the incident, which resulted in Mu’azu’s arrest; nevertheless, bail was eventually granted.
The victim lamented the fact that the police had not looked into her complaint since the alleged rape but had instead detained and arrested her husband on suspicion of defamation of the suspect.
She clarified that the rape incident and her husband’s arrest had traumatized her and her family.
The woman said, “On December 9, 2023, at about 3:0 clock in the afternoon, Sani Saleh Muazu came to my house and started hugging me, touching my breasts.
“I begged him to stop it because of my small children but he threatened me, that he was stronger than me so I should just cooperate, moreover he was the one taking care of my family.
“I kept pleading with him to stop as my children were watching as I struggled to free myself from his grip and run away but he kicked me with his leg and I fell down.
“He slapped me and I started crying.
“My seven year old son who had a fractured leg and couldn’t walk crawled into the room on his buttocks from outside and saw what was happening and started crying, begging him to stop.
“Muazu raised his hand and hit me on the chest repeatedly as my sons cried, saying don’t kill our mother.
“He then pinned me to the ground with his leg. I couldn’t struggle again, climbed me and started having intercourse with me in front of my children.
“My husband heard my children crying and he rushed inside the room and met Mu’azu on top of me and he held him up and started shouting ‘so this is what you are doing to my wife? This has been your intention of bringing us to Bauchi?’
“Mu’azu stood up and slapped my husband hard and they started wrestling.
“I was weak, I couldn’t stand up; I was just lying on the bed crying. They kept wrestling until they got outside and he ran away. Up till now as I speak with you I am still feeling the pain”
Three weeks after petitioning the Bauchi State Commissioner of Police, the traumatized victim—whose husband is still detained by the police—expressed sadness that nothing had been done.
Lubabatu went on to say that she could not pinpoint Muazu and her husband’s precise relationship. She claimed her husband withheld information from her.
She recalled that before meeting Muazu, whom he introduced as an “uncle,” her husband had a successful transport company in Kaduna, and the family looked up to him as a father figure.
The victim claimed that Mu’azu later used promises of a better life to entice them to Bauchi.
She said that immediately after moving to Bauchi, her husband’s business failed, putting the family in financial hardship and causing them to pull their kids out of school.
Speaking about the development, Alkassim Muhammad, the founder of the human rights organization African Child Development and Human Rights Protection, expressed dismay that the police had ignored the victim’s rape report and instead arrested her husband.
Recalling that rape is a crime that should not be taken lightly, Akassim wrote a petition on behalf of the victim on December 22, 2023, urging the Bauchi State Commissioner of Police, Auwal Mohammed, to re-arrest the Deputy Superintendent of Immigration and conduct a thorough investigation into the allegation.
Alkassim promised that all legal measures would be taken by the African Child Development and Human Rights Protection to guarantee that Lubabatu receives justice in a court of law.
The victim’s husband, Yusuf, was arrested in response to a complaint of defamation and other offenses, according to Ahmed Wakil, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Bauchi Command, who spoke with ZINGTIE.
Wakil, however, stated that he could not verify if African Child Development and Human Rights Protection’s letter of appeal had reached the Commissioner of Police.
But he did admit that the police were looking into the event.
Sani Sale Muazu, the accused immigration officer, refuted all of the accusations when contacted by ZINGTIE.
In a phone interview with ZINGTIE, he claimed that the accusation was a deliberate attempt to damage his reputation and ruin his career.
However, he added that as the matter is being looked into, he cannot comment further on the accusation.
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