|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Edo State Government has disclosed that more than 70 cases of child sexual abuse were recorded in the state between January and July 2026, with fathers accounting for over 50 per cent of the perpetrators.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Eugenia Abdallah, made the disclosure on August 14, 2026, at a bi-monthly press conference in Benin City, adding that one girl currently in the ministry’s custody was impregnated by her own father.
Abdallah stated that the minors sexually abused by their fathers were between the ages of two and ten years.
“Mostly, 50 per cent are abused by their own fathers, with the victims ranging from 2-10 years. For instance, there is a little girl currently in our custody who was impregnated by her father.”
Eugenia Abdallah is the Edo State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development. She stated that the ministry is paying close attention to the rehabilitation of victims while pursuing the prosecution of offenders, and has responded to serious cases including allegations involving two sisters and an 11-year-old girl, providing protective medical and psychosocial support while the cases were referred for investigation and prosecution.
The commissioner disclosed that the ministry has inaugurated a Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Uromi, Edo Central, in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration, and that work is ongoing to establish another centre in Auchi, to ensure that all three senatorial districts of the state have a Sexual Assault Referral Centre. The ministry also introduced a digital child welfare case management system to improve documentation, case tracking, and monitoring of children in orphanages, and validated a Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence Policy Framework in June 2026 to address cyberbullying, online harassment, and digital exploitation of children.
The commissioner also disclosed that the 2026 Edo State Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy was reviewed to address emerging threats to children, including online exploitation, social media-related risks, digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and institutional abuse.
