Nigerian Agency NAPTIP Raises Alarm Over R!tual Practices, Cybercrime Cases Linked To S£xual Violence

 

 

Nigerian Agency NAPTIP Raises Alarm Over Ritual Practices, Cybercrime Cases Linked To Sexual Violence

The NAPTIP’s Head of Press and Public Relations Unit, Vincent Adekoye, raised the concern on Thursday in Abuja during a two-day capacity-building workshop for journalists covering SGBV.

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has raised the alarm over emerging links between sexual violence, ritual practices, cybercrime and other criminal activities, urging journalists to investigate the underlying factors driving sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Nigeria.

The NAPTIP’s Head of Press and Public Relations Unit, Vincent Adekoye, raised the concern on Thursday in Abuja during a two-day capacity-building workshop for journalists covering SGBV.

The workshop, organised by NAPTIP with support from the European Union-backed End Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (ESGBV) Programme and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), seeks to establish a dedicated SGBV Media Corps and improve ethical reporting of sexual violence.

Adekoye, while addressing journalists at the workshop, said SGBV cases being handled by the agency had become increasingly complex, with some involving alleged ritual practices, cybercrime, spiritual beliefs, grooming and blackmail.

He urged journalists to move beyond simply reporting incidents of rape and other forms of violence and begin investigating the social, cultural, economic and criminal dimensions behind such cases.

He said, “There is an aspect of rituals that are now coming into the issue of rape. Rather than just reporting the horrible incident, there are intellectual aspects that we are suspecting as an institution from what we see every day.”

Adekoye narrated the case of a 16-year-old girl who was allegedly violently raped by a 45-year-old man in the Wuye area of Abuja after he allegedly groomed her over a period of time.

According to him, the victim, who was reportedly a virgin, trusted the suspect after he presented himself as someone who could help her secure a husband.

He said the suspect gradually gained her confidence by asking personal questions about her education, friendships and relationships before allegedly inviting her to his residence, where he locked the door and raped her.

Adekoye said the victim subsequently lost the ability to speak. He added that the victim’s family had spent more than N2.5 million on her treatment as of Wednesday, while her condition had deteriorated significantly.

“The girl has nobody to speak for her again. From the story I heard, I asked them to bring the guy out and I personally interrogated him,” he said.

Adekoye said investigators later recovered the suspect’s phone, which allegedly contained messages showing how he groomed the victim before the assault. He said the case had forced the agency to examine whether some sexual assaults could be connected to ritual practices and other forms of criminal exploitation.

The NAPTIP official also narrated the case of a man allegedly accused of repeatedly sexually abusing four boys working under him, including his son.

He said the cases demonstrated the need for journalists to investigate sexual violence against both girls and boys instead of focusing predominantly on female victims.

Adekoye also warned about the increasing intersection between cybercrime and SGBV, particularly the use of sexual blackmail and sextortion to extort money from victims.

He narrated the case of a woman who allegedly lost about N7 million to a person who threatened to expose her private photographs to her husband, pastor, relatives and colleagues.

According to him, the prolonged blackmail allegedly caused the woman severe emotional and physical deterioration before the matter was reported.

He urged journalists to pay greater attention to cyber-enabled sexual exploitation, saying perpetrators were increasingly deploying digital platforms to identify, groom, manipulate and blackmail victims.

Adekoye further criticised the use of spiritual beliefs and traditional practices to justify violence against women.

He narrated a case involving a man who allegedly attacked his wife after dreaming that she was responsible for his problems at work.

According to him, the man had repeatedly received queries from his employer for lateness before eventually losing his job, but blamed his wife after dreaming that she had caused his misfortune.

Adekoye said such incidents illustrated how deeply entrenched cultural and religious beliefs could contribute to gender-based violence.

He also condemned the practice of communities attempting to settle rape cases outside the legal system, warning that such interventions could deprive survivors of justice.

“Were you the one that was raped? Do you know the pain of being raped, and you say you are coming as a community leader to settle it?” he asked.

He said NAPTIP had secured three life-imprisonment convictions in SGBV-related cases and was determined to pursue perpetrators through the justice system.

Adekoye urged journalists to work closely with law enforcement agencies and sustain pressure on perpetrators through investigative reporting.

“We want to wage war using the media on them,” he said, urging journalists to investigate the assets and financial proceeds of alleged perpetrators of cybercrime and other forms of exploitation.