The Edo State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Eugenia Abdallah, has stated that over 70 cases of defilement were recorded between January and July 2026, with over 50 per cent of such cases perpetrated by the fathers of the minors.
Abdallah disclosed this during the bi-monthly press conference organised by the state Ministry of Information and Strategy, noting that the minors defiled by their fathers were between 2-10 years of age.
She said, “Mostly, 50 per cent are abused by their own fathers, with the victims ranging from 2-10 years. 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. The case was reported to us by a neighbour.
“When we asked her about her father, she told us that she had lost her father and pleaded with us not to have him arrested. Meanwhile, she is the only person who can tell us where her father is.”
The commissioner, however, expressed the state government’s commitment to ensuring that vulnerable citizens are not merely identified but protected; adding that survivors are not merely heard but supported.
“The victims are not merely trained but provided opportunities for economic advancement; and social-protection programmes increasingly produce measurable outcomes.” She added.
Also speaking on steps taken by the state government to protect residents of the state, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kassim Afegbua reiterated the government’s ban on the movement of motorcycles in the Benin metropolis, as he cited security reasons.
He said, “We are not pretending about it. The reason why this was done was purely for security reasons, and the kind of reports we get daily have become a security concern to us. People use Okada (motorcycle) to kidnap people, to do robbery. They carry their passengers, take them to a lonely place and dispossess them of their belongings.”
