Kogi State's commissioner for water resources charged with rape and six other counts

KOGI State's commissioner for water resources Abdulmumuni Danga is to appear before a Federal High Court in Abuja on a seven-count charge of rape following his alleged assault of one Elizabeth Oyeniyi earlier this year.

On March 29, Mr Danga was reported to have abducted Ms Oyeniyi, after she posted a comment about the commissioner’s stepsister, who has been her friend for years, on Facebook. She was then raped several times and after the assault, Ms Oyeniyi, 23, showed her severely blistered arms and thighs,

In an interview she granted shortly after the incident, Ms Oyeniyi said that Mr Danga personally flogged her and could have killed her but for her young son who was with her. She said the commissioner then stripped her while at least 15 men, who worked for him, watched.

During the assault, the thugs filmed her nude as she was being whipped and humiliated. After the attack, Mr Danga drove her to a hotel close to the Kogi State House in Lokoja, the state capital, where he allegedly forcefully raped her three times overnight.

While Mr Danga denied the allegations, activists and human rights groups, including Dorothy Njemanze Foundation, mounted pressure on the police for an investigation. The group also called on the Kogi State government to sanction Mr Danga, forcing the state to promise to launch an investigation into the matter.

Now, five months afterwards, the police have instituted a criminal case against the commissioner after inviting all parties involved. Mr Danga appeared at the police headquarters in Abuja on June 2 and July 5 for interrogation, making statements during the two visits.

He has now been charged on seven counts, including rape, brutality, coercion and torture at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Judicial Division. Mr Danga is to be arraigned alongside one Success Omadivi, 35, who was also indicted in the course of investigation.

Other offences levelled against Mr Danga include falsification of documents and threatening a medical officer to forge a test result, having carnal knowledge of Ms Onyeniyi without her consent, inflicting physical injury and torture by flogging. All are contrary to multiple sections of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015.