Stakeholders in child protection and justice administration in Kaduna State have raised concerns over the growing number of unreported sexual abuse cases involving boys.
They said the situation was particularly disturbing because many alleged perpetrators were known to the victims, with some cases involving neighbours, relatives or other trusted adults.
Kaduna has laws addressing violence against children and sexual offences, including the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law 2018 and the Child Welfare and Protection Law 2018.
The Kaduna State Penal Code Law 2017, as amended in 2020, also contains provisions addressing sexual intercourse with a male child below 14 years.
The stakeholders made the observations in Kaduna on cases of sexual violence against boys handled by the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and Kaduna State Ministry of Justice.
The centre manager of the Salama Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Tudun Wada, Kaduna, Sidikat Adegboye, said the facility had attended to several children allegedly subjected to sexual abuse.
Ms Adegboye said one case involved a boy brought to the centre in May 2026; a medical examination confirmed he had been sexually assaulted. She said three other boys from the same family were subsequently brought to the centre in August, with one also confirmed to have been sexually assaulted.
One of the mothers involved, whose identity is being withheld to protect her children, said she became suspicious after noticing her young son was experiencing an unusual medical problem. She said the discovery prompted her to examine the child, after which he later disclosed that a man known in the neighbourhood had allegedly sexually abused him. The mother said the boy told his father that the alleged perpetrator had threatened to kill him if he disclosed the abuse.
She said the family sought legal advice and was directed to take the child to a SARC for medical examination. According to her, the examination conducted at Yusuf Dantsoho General Hospital indicated that the child had been subjected to sexual abuse over a prolonged period. The matter was subsequently reported to the police.
FIDA Kaduna chairperson, Olufunke Bamikole, said the organisation had also received complaints involving sexual abuse of boys. Ms Bamikole said one of the cases involved a boy allegedly abused by a neighbour for more than one year. She said the alleged perpetrator reportedly took the boy in his vehicle and later returned him to his family under the guise of helping him.
Ms Bamikole said the boy was subsequently taken to a SARC for examination and the matter reported to the police. She said FIDA became concerned after learning the suspect was no longer in custody. According to her, subsequent information suggested that more boys might have been affected.
“Initially, we were hearing that it was only about six or seven boys the suspect was doing it to. But we later heard that there were about 40, including his own son,” she said.
She stressed the need for authorities and communities to take allegations of sexual abuse involving children seriously.
The police command in Kaduna, however, said it did not release the suspect without due process. The officer in charge of the Gender Section, Dominic Aku, said the suspect spent about three to four months in custody before the police forwarded the case to the Ministry of Justice for legal advice.
Aku explained that the police routinely forward case diaries to the Ministry of Justice after investigations in cases requiring legal advice. He said the ministry then determines whether the available evidence is sufficient to proceed with prosecution.
“In this case, the advice we received from the ministry stated that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him and that he should be discharged. It was not the police who released him,” he said.
The Coordinator of the NHRC in Kaduna, Tengu Gwar, said many sexual abuse cases remained hidden because victims and their families were often reluctant to report them. He identified low legal awareness, stigma, cultural considerations and interventions by family and community leaders as major factors affecting reporting.
He said the commission had also received complaints involving alleged sexual violence against children within family and neighbourhood circles. According to him, some families attempt to resolve such cases privately because of fear of stigma or concern over the consequences of exposing a relative or known person.
Gwar said some religious and community leaders also intervened after cases were reported. He mentioned a case in Zaria in which a mother who wanted to pursue justice after her child was allegedly sexually violated faced pressure and lost the support of her husband.
A senior state counsel and gender-based violence and child protection specialist at the Kaduna State Ministry of Justice, Sarah Peter, confirmed that cases involving sexual violence against boys were being reported. Ms Peter said the Department of Citizens’ Rights was open to complaints involving human rights violations, including those affecting children.
She said cases could be referred to the police, Legal Aid Council, FIDA or the Multi-Door Courthouse depending on the circumstances. Ms Peter disclosed that she had prosecuted cases involving young boys, citing a case involving a two-year-old boy who was sexually assaulted. According to her, the abuser had allegedly subjected a 12-year-old boy to similar abuse and subsequently forced him to participate in the assault of the younger child.
She said the 12-year-old was treated as a victim because investigations showed that he himself had been sexually abused. Ms Peter said the adult was eventually convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, with an order to pay N500,000 compensation to the survivor’s family.
She, however, said another case involving three boys aged about six years was affected by their parents’ failure to make them available to testify. According to her, the parents later said their community had advised them to forgive and forget the incident and discontinue the case.
Ms Peter said such interventions could undermine the prosecution of child sexual abuse cases.