Lubabatu Yusuf, a 20-year-old housewife, has told how she was reportedly sexually assaulted 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 media in Bauchi on Monday, stating that the incident happened on December 9, 2023, when Mu’azu paid them a visit.
The victim claims that when her husband reported the event, Mu’azu was taken into custody but was later released on bond.
The victim bemoaned the fact that the police had not looked into her complaint since the alleged rape, but had instead detained and arrested her husband on charges of slandering the suspect.
She clarified that the sexual assault and her husband’s detention had devastated her and her family.
“On December 9, 2023, at approximately 3:00 p.m., Sani Saleh Muazu came to my house and started hugging me, touching my breasts,” the woman stated.
Because he was the one looking after my family and I had little children, I asked him to stop, but he threatened me, saying that he was stronger than me and that I should just cooperate.
As my kids watched, I begged him to stop repeatedly as I attempted to break free of his hold and flee, but he booted me with his leg, causing me to fall.
“I started crying after he slapped me.
“My seven-year-old son, who was unable to walk due to a fractured leg, crawled in on his buttocks from the outside, saw what was going on, and began to cry and beg him to stop.”
As my sons screamed and pleaded with me not to kill our mother, Muazu lifted his hand and repeatedly struck me in the chest.
Then he used his leg to pin me to the ground. I was unable to fight back, so they climbed on top of me and began having sex with me in front of my kids.
“When he heard my kids wailing, my husband stormed into the room, found Mu’azu on top of me, held him up, and began yelling,’so this is what you are doing to my wife? Have you intended to take us to Bauchi in this manner?
“Mu’azu sprang to his feet, gave my husband a hard smack, and they began to wrestle.
I was so weak that all I could do was lie on the bed and cry. They wrestled until they were outdoors, at which point he fled. As I speak with you now, the agony is still present in me.
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 was unable to pinpoint Muazu and her husband’s precise relationship. She claimed her spouse withheld information from her.
She recalled that prior to meeting Muazu, whom he introduced as a “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 claims that soon after moving to Bauchi, her husband’s company failed, putting the family in dire straits and requiring 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 displeasure that the victim’s rape complaint had gone uninvestigated by the police, who had instead detained 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, requesting that the Bauchi State Commissioner of Police, Auwal Mohammed, 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.
In an interview with DAILY POST, Ahmed Wakil, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Bauchi Command, revealed that Yusuf, the victim’s husband, was taken into custody on suspicion of defamation and other offenses.
Wakil, however, stated that he was unable to 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 reached by DAILY POST.
In a phone interview, he informed DailyPost that the accusation is a deliberate attempt to damage his reputation and ruin his career.
He did, however, add that as the matter is being looked into, he would not be able to comment further on the accusation.