The Edo State Government says more than 70 cases of child defilement were recorded across the state between January and July 2026, with fathers responsible for over half of the cases involving their own children.
The state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Eugenia Abdallah, disclosed the figures on Thursday, August 13, during a bi-monthly press conference organised by the Ministry of Information and Strategy in Benin City.
She was joined by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kassim Afegbua, and the Managing Director of the Edo State Geographic Information Service, Dr Innocent Bello.
Abdallah put the figure at 72 cases, noting that several have already gone to prosecution.
The victims allegedly abused by their fathers, she said, ranged in age from two to 10 years old.
Among the cases currently being handled by her ministry is that of a 14-year-old girl who is eight months pregnant, allegedly by her own father.
According to Abdallah, the girl was brought to the ministry's attention by a neighbour and remains in the ministry's custody.
When asked about her father's whereabouts, the girl reportedly told officials he had died and asked that he not be arrested, even though she is the only person who could identify where he is.
Part of Abdallah's remarks at the briefing:
‘For instance, there is a little girl currently in our custody who was impregnated by her father. She is just 14 years old and is eight months pregnant as we speak. When we asked her about her father, she told us that she had lost...’
Abdallah cited other cases the ministry has handled in recent months, including one involving two sisters who alleged prolonged sexual abuse, and another in August 2026 involving an 11-year-old girl.
She said the ministry has expanded support services for survivors outside Benin City, including psychosocial care and referrals, and has opened a Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Uromi, Edo Central, in partnership with the International Organisation for Migration.
Plans are underway for a similar centre in Auchi to widen the reach of gender-based violence response services across the state.
The commissioner said the ministry has also introduced a digital child welfare case management system to improve tracking of children in orphanages, and reviewed the state's 2026 Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy to address online exploitation and institutional abuse.
Following an incident at Igbinedion Primary and Secondary School, she said, the Child Rights Implementation Committee set up a school monitoring subcommittee.
Abdallah reaffirmed the state government's commitment to ensuring vulnerable residents are not just identified but protected, saying survivors should be supported rather than merely heard, and that social protection programmes should produce measurable outcomes.
Comments (0)
Please sign in to join the conversation.
Loading comments...