70 minors ranging from 2 to 10 years def!led in seven months. 50% abused by their fathers – Edo State Govt

The Edo State Government has said over 70 cases of defilement were recorded in the state between January and July 2026, with 50 per cent of such cases perpetrated by fathers of such minors.

The state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Eugenia Abdallah, disclosed on Thursday, August 13.

The commissioner disclosed that the minors defiled by their fathers were between the ages of 2 and 10.

“Mostly, 50 per cent are abused by their own fathers, with the victims ranging from 2 to 10 years. For instance, there is a little girl currently in our custody who was impregnated by her father. She is just 14 years old and is eight months pregnant as we speak. The case was reported to us by a neighbour,” she said.

“When we asked her about her father, she told us that she had lost her father and pleaded with us not to have him arrested. Meanwhile, she is the only person who can tell us where her father.

The Commissioner, however, expressed the state government’s commitment to ensuring that vulnerable citizens are not merely identified but protected.

“That survivors are not merely heard but supported; that women are not merely trained but provided opportunities for economic advancement; and that social-protection programmes increasingly produce measurable outcomes,” she added.