The Lebanese sexual exploiter

LAST week, the Plateau State command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) arrested a middle-aged man, a Lebanese simply identified as Simo, in connection with a series of alleged sexual crimes involving married women and children. Simo’s arrest followed a complaint lodged by distraught parents in the Abattoir community in Jos South Local Government Area of the state after he had allegedly molested their 11-year-old daughter. It was after the complaint that other victims of his harassment numbering up to 14 surfaced, with seven minors being pregnant already.

Naturally, there was palpable tension in the community as residents, including women and young girls, protested the alleged regime of sexual molestation by the suspect. The molestation, the protesters said, had been ongoing for about 20 years without anything being done by the authorities to checkmate the suspect. The residents’ wrath was further stoked when the suspect was reportedly released from the police station after his initial arrest. The protesters appealed to the state government, non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations to intervene so that the issue would not be swept under the carpet, as was done in the past.

At the police station, one of the aggrieved youth lamented: “We are protesting the case of a Lebanese man using girls of age 10 to 13 to act pornography. He was arrested yesterday (last Thursday), but now he is nowhere to be found and the police are saying nothing about it. The police have refused to release the girls in question. So, there’s an uproar around the station because the youth insist that the girls must be released and the man must not go free.”

Reacting to the development, the State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Gabriel Ubah, said: “The command is aware of the situation and investigation is ongoing to ascertain the true state of the matter. Nobody is happy to hear of such a devilish act; investigation is ongoing. Nobody released the man. If people don’t get vital information, they will do things out of ignorance. The matter has been transferred to the state Criminal Investigations Department (CID). The man has not been released.”

To be sure, the narrative regarding sexual exploitation by the suspect in question has lingered in Abattoir community for years. According to reports, he had courted the community’s outrage previously by luring single and married women and widows into the pornography business with his arsenal of considerable financial resources, engaging in romps with them. However, no matter how hard they tried, members of the community could not get him to face justice because he had deployed his vast connections to escape prosecution. This is why members of the community have remained restive despite the assurances by the police that he is still in custody.

Members of the Abattoir community may indeed be forgiven for believing that the alleged serial sex offender taking advantage of the lax attitude of the security agencies to perpetrate crime is being shielded by the police. This is not the first time there has been an outcry over his criminal activities and it is disturbing that a person accused of such heinous crimes has been allowed to escape the clutches of the law for so long. In civilised climes, persons accused of such heinous crimes as Simo’s are promptly investigated and given their just deserts. Were Nigeria not a lax society, a foreigner turning members of his host community into sexual slaves would have long been made to face the wrath of the law. It is also disturbing that the Plateau State government has taken no apparent interest in a matter of such magnitude.

The Plateau State police command should ensure that justice is served in this case without any further delay or unnecessary procrastination. The very idea that a foreigner who takes delight in molesting young and impressionable girls has consistently escaped justice not only rankles, it calls the country’s integrity into question. The suspect and his accomplices, including the adults who knowingly engaged in pornographic  practices with him, must be made to account for their deeds.

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