Police arrest Islamic cleric for anal rape of 5-year-old girl in Lagos

In a video presented to the Lagos commissioner of police, Imohimi Edgal, the 43-year-old cleric, identified as Abdulsalam Salaudeen, was caught raping the girl who was supposed to be learning from him.

In a statement released on Wednesday, January 2, 2019, police public relations officer, CSP Chike Oti, said the commissioner was saddened by the incident and has ordered a detailed investigation.

The statement read, "On Friday, December 28, 2018, a good Nigerian visited the headquarters of the Lagos State Police Command with a video evidence of an Islamic cleric, aka Alfa, who was having anal sex with a five-year-old girl that he was supposed to be teaching Islamic studies. The complainant sought audience with the state Commissioner of Police.

"The CP, after watching the heart-rending video, directed the command’s undercover operatives attached to the State Intelligence Bureau to immediately arrest the culprit and hand him over to the gender section for a detailed investigation. The operatives went in search of the cleric and arrested him near a mosque in the Igando area of the state.

“He was taken from there to the gender unit, where the officer-in-charge, ASP Abimbola Williams, confronted him with the video footage of him defiling the child by penetrating her anus and private parts. Upon seeing himself captured like an actor in a movie, the suspect broke down in tears and owned up to the crime. He later gave his name as Abdulsalam Salaudeen, a 43-year-old man and resident at 16 Awoyemi Street, Igando Road, Ikotun, Lagos.”

While commending the courageous act of the informant, the police boss warned parents and guardians to keep constant watch over their children and wards as nobody could be trusted.