At 57 years old, Magaji Dansale, found himself in police custody for no other reason than allegation of raping his seven-month-old step-daughter.
But when he was brought before journalists by the Katsina State Police Command on Friday, the reason he gave for raping the toddler was shocking.
Dansale said he violated the baby girl because of his desperation to become rich in life.
The petty trader told journalists at the police headquarters in Katsina where he and some other suspects were paraded, that he had several dreams in which he became rich once he had sexual intercourse with a toddler.
The father of six said in Hausa, “I had sexual intercourse with the baby girl because I saw it in several dreams I had that it was the way for me to become successful in life.”
“I dreamt that all my suffering in life would end. This is why I did it. “I truly believed that if I had sexual intercourse with her, all my predicaments would vanish.”
“I would not have to run around to make ends meet anymore.” Dansale said he married the mother of the baby girl following the death of his first wife who had six children for him.
He however kept mum when asked whether he was remorseful for his action.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Usman Abdullahi, said Dansale would be charged to court soon.
The child is still on admission at the Turai Umar Yar’Aadua Maternity and Children Hospital, Katsina, where she is receiving treatment.
She was admitted to hospital on Wednesday after a referral from General Hospital, Malumfashi, where doctors confirmed that she had suffered critical injury due to the rape.
The victim’s biological father, Ibrahim Nuhu, told journalists at the premises of the hospital in Katsina on Thursday that he had separated from the victim’s mother before she married Dansale. He explained that the incident occurred at Dangaski village in the Musawa Local Government Area of the state.
Ibrahim who also spoke in Hausa, said sometime last week, the baby’s mother approached him, complaining that the baby had pile which made her to bleed heavily through her private part and anus.
He said he then took the child to the General Hospital, Malumfashi where the doctors there insisted that the police must be involved as it was a rape case which had severely injured her and not piles as claimed by the mother.
The baby was consequently referred to the Turai Umar Yar’Adua Maternity and Children Hospital, Katsina, for further treatment while the police were called in.
The baby’s mother told journalists on Thursday, that sometime last week, she woke up from an unusual long sleep to find traces of blood and liquid in the baby’s private parts.
According to her, she assumed that the baby had piles. She added that the following day she made the observation, the suspect gave her some clothes to wash, among which was a trousers stained with blood and semen.
Dansale was subsequently arrested in connection with the incident.