Nigerian Man, Hussaini Suleiman Sentenced for Raping 8-Year-Old Girl in Minna
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A Niger State High Court sitting in Minna has convicted and sentenced 27-year-old Hussaini Suleiman to seven years’ imprisonment for raping an 8-year-old girl at his residence behind the Prison Quarters, Minna, Niger State.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) disclosed the conviction in a statement released on Friday, September 11, 2026. According to the agency, the case was referred to its Niger State Command by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on April 16, 2026, following a report of the assault.
Suleiman was arraigned on September 10, 2026, before Court 8 of the Niger State High Court, Minna, presided over by Hon. Justice Binta Bawa. When the charge was read, he pleaded guilty. NAPTIP said the convict admitted to committing the offence, and the court convicted and sentenced him the same day.
NAPTIP did not disclose the exact date the assault occurred and withheld further details about the survivor, in line with the standard practice of protecting the identity and privacy of child survivors of sexual violence.
This conviction adds to a troubling pattern in the state; Niger State recorded 192 cases of violence and abuse against children, including rape, trafficking, and forced labour, between November 2025 and June 2026.
Under Section 31 of the Child Rights Act 2003, sexual intercourse with a child constitutes rape and carries a prescribed sentence of life imprisonment. The years of imprisonment pronounced in this case do not reflect that standard, and a plea of guilt does not lessen the violence done to an 8-year-old girl or the lifelong harm she now has to live with.
Enforcement of child protection law in Nigeria remains inconsistent because states are left to individually domesticate the Act, and this inconsistency continues to cost survivors the full weight of justice they deserve. Niger State’s sentencing in this case falls short of the law, and that gap is a signal to perpetrators that sexual violence against children carries a survivable cost.
