Amnesty International demands justice for 4-year-old ‘rape’ survivor in Plateau

Amnesty International demands justice for 4-year-old ‘rape’ survivor in Plateau

Muhammad Tanko Shittu

Amnesty International Nigeria has called on Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang to intervene in the case of a four-year-old girl who was allegedly raped.

It urged him to direct the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to restore the discontinued criminal proceedings against the alleged perpetrator.

The organisation said abandoning the case, despite an outstanding court warrant for the defendant’s arrest, amounted to a serious miscarriage of justice and risked undermining public confidence in the state’s justice system.

Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, made the call, Wednesday at a press conference Jos.

Sanusi said the case involved a vulnerable child who, in Amnesty’s view, had been abandoned by the institutions constitutionally responsible for protecting her rights and pursuing justice.

According to him, the defendant had repeatedly failed to appear before the Plateau State High Court in Jos, prompting the court to issue a standing bench warrant for his arrest.

He, however, said prosecutors from the office of the Plateau State Attorney-General invoked Section 211 of the 1999 Constitution in May 2026 to discontinue the trial, allowing the defendant to remain at large.

Sanusi questioned how discontinuing a sexual violence case involving a four-year-old child could serve the public interest, promote justice or prevent abuse of legal process.

He also demanded an explanation from the state government on how the decision was consistent with the Plateau State Child Rights Law 2005 and the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law 2022.

Amnesty urged Governor Mutfwang to use his executive oversight to ensure that the case is immediately reinstated and returned to the High Court.

It also called on the Ministry of Justice to provide a transparent explanation for the withdrawal and urged the Police to execute the subsisting bench warrant and apprehend the defendant.

“We refuse to let this case be buried in bureaucratic silence,” Amnesty said, pledging continued engagement until justice is served for the child survivor.