Rights group Amnesty International (AI) yesterday condemned the police invasion of singer Timi Dakolo’s Lagos home over his wife Busola’s rape allegation against Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo.
Reacting to the incident on their official Twitter handle, Amnesty International, Nigeria, said intimidating victims of sexual abuse with the use of the police was a new low in the country’s cases of impunity.
“Attempts to intimidate and harass Timi and Busola Dakolo by the Nigeria Police show a disturbing pattern of how authorities respond to allegations of sexual abuse. In February, armed SARS officers arrested Maryam Awaisu of #ArewaMeToo in Kaduna and dragged her to Abuja, at the instance of a person widely accused of rape and sexual abuse.
“For too long, Nigeria’s women have been facing various kinds of sexual violence that seldom receives proper attention from the country’s law enforcement agencies. It is unacceptable that women seeking justice end up intimidated by Nigeria Police.
“It is unacceptable that women seeking justice for sexual abuse are subjected to arrest and intimidation by a unit of police whose remit is armed robbery. We fear that these actions may prevent victims of sexual violence from pursuing justice.
“In the face of rising sexual abuse of women and girls across Nigeria, for how long will women be continuously subjected to intimidation and forced silence in the face of injustice? When will the injustice end?
“This pattern of Nigeria Police dispatching anti-robbery squads to pick up victims of sexual abuse who refused to be silent is unacceptable.”
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