A 34-year-old trader, Mallam Isiaka, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly raping a nine-year-old boy in the Iju area of the state.

PUNCH Metrolearnt that Isiaka was arrested and detained on Saturday by the Iju Police Division after the victim, Christopher, (pseudonym), complained about pains in the anus to his mother.
Christopher, a primary 1 pupil, who stayed with his family on Coker Alhaja Street, Old Akute Road, Iju, opened up to his mother that Isiaka allegedly raped him through the anus at different times when she sent him to buy items from the trader.
The boy was taken to the Mirabel Centre for tests which revealed that the boy had been slept with
through the anus. Further tests to ascertain infections were carried out on him.
The mother thereafter reported the matter at the police station and Isiaka was arrested on Saturday.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Christopher also told his mother that he could not open up on the incident because the suspect allegedly threatened that he (Christopher) would die if he reported anything to his parents.
Speaking with PUNCH Metro, a neighbour, who identified herself only as Olawumi, said the parents first became suspicious when Christopher was sent on an errand penultimate Monday and he came back with his pants soaked after staying longer than usual.
She said:
“Isiaka sells items across the road in his shop. The boy’s parents used to send him on errands to the shops. He bought household items like sugar, milk and biscuits from Isiaka. We call him mallam.
It was on Saturday that the boy got the courage to open up on the incident. The boy said mallam had been raping him in his shop anytime he ran errands for his parents.
The boy said the mallam warned him that if he opened up to his mother, he was going to die. The mother calmed him that he was not going to die as the mallam threatened.
About two Mondays ago, the boy came back from school and he was asked to go and buy items from the shop. He came back with his pants soaked. He later confessed that the mallam had raped him about eight times.”Another neighbour, who gave his name as Chukwuka, said:
“The mallam is not known with any wife though he has stayed long in this area. The baffling thing is how he did it eight times and nobody caught him for once in the shop.
The boy went to the hospital on Sunday and the tests came out positive that he had been raped. The mallam is still denying it, but the boy insisted that it was him and the tests had also confirmed the assault.”Christopher’s mother, who did not want her name in print, said the boy’s anus was wider than hers, and if not for her persistence, her son would not have opened up as he was afraid of the mallam.
She said:
“We have gone to the hospital and they have given him some drugs. We were supposed to go to the hospital again.
If you see my boy’s anus, it is no longer like a child’s. It is wider than my own. Ordinarily, he is an agile child, but he suddenly became cold recently. If not for the Spirit of God, I would not know since he is not a girl. I would never think anyone could be raping my boy.”The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed Isiaka’s arrest, adding that the case had been transferred to the Isokoko division for prosecution.
She said, “The suspect was arrested for allegedly defiling the nine-year-old boy.
“The case is now at the Isokoko division where we have the Family Support Unit which handles cases of domestic and sexual violence. Justice will be done in the matter.”