#JusticeforbabyKhadija: Buhari’s Wife and Emir of Kano Visits 8-Months Old Rape Victim (photos)

The wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, visited the visited eight months old baby Khadija Bashir who was raped when she was just 6 months old  by the husband of her mother's close friend and neighbor  in Kano.

Hajiya Aisha Buhari, who visited the baby at the Malam Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) Kano yesterday, condemned the act and urged the Judiciary to ensure that the perpetrator is punished according to the provisions of the law.

“Government should follow this case to its logical conclusion. You should leave no stone unturned in the course of handling this case,” she said.

Also speaking, the Emir of Kano, Malam Muhammadu Sanusi ll, who was at the hospital shortly before the wife of the president visited, charged the Kano State government to ensure that the man who defiled the baby is punished accordingly.

The emir urged parents of the victim to consider the incident as destiny and continue to take good care of the baby.

“You should view what happened to your little baby as destiny and accept it in good faith. You should continue to take good care of her. I am sure that God will come to your aid,” he said.

Speaking to newsmen, the  Kano State Commissioner for Health, Dr Kabiru

Ibrahim Getso, said, the government would take of the baby’s medical bills.

Meanwhile, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has directed the state Ministry of Justice to immediately commence the prosecution of the suspect.

A statement signed by the Commissioner for Information, Youth and Culture, Malam Muhammad Garba, said the governor is deeply saddened by the incident and has directed the state Ministry of Justice to ensure that the matter is pursued to the latter.

The statement further added that the state government wants the suspect to be jailed for life if found guilty.

“Anyone found guilty of this sordid sexual crime will be prosecuted under the relevant provision contained in the Kano State Penal Code Amendment Law, referred to as the ‘Principal Law’ as amended under Section 283 which states thus: ‘Whoever commits rape, shall be punished with imprisonment for life or for any lesser term not below fourteen years and shall be liable to a fine of two Hundred Thousand Naira (N200,000) and in addition thereto be required by the court to pay compensation to the victims’’. 

“The despicable, dastardly and condemnable act which is alien to our religious and cultural values, more so of a baby, is indicative of how brutalised and unfeeling perpetrators of such heinous crimes have become and therefore deserve nothing more than a punishment proportionate to their crimes,” he said.

The statement advised parents to as part of collective efforts to bring to an end rape cases, particularly against minors, to always look after their wards, monitor their movement and the type of company they keep.

The statement also charged religious leaders to use the places of worship to speak on the dangers of doing evil and to pray for respite from this and other illicit activities.

In his response, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Aminu Zakari, assured the wife of the President of the hospital’s readiness to provide best medical care for the victim

Her rapist claims that some spiritualist told him and his wife that for them to end the childlessness in their marriage, they have to rape a baby. Her rapist is currently in detention and has hired as many as 10 lawyers to defend him in court.