Toddlers, barely able to speak, are increasingly falling prey to an unspeakable form of violence – sexual abuse. This disturbing phenomenon is revealed by an increasing number of reported cases by national dailies as compiled by the Daily Trust library.

These incidents, many cloaked in silence and impunity, are exposing the gaps in Nigeria’s protective systems, and raising urgent questions about parenting, law enforcement, and societal response.

From urban centres like Lagos and Abuja to rural communities in the North and South, this disheartening incident is taking place with no geographic, ethnic or religious boundaries.

Data compiled shows that child sexual molestation is not only widespread but increasingly reported in various parts of the country.

In 2024, Weekend Trust tracked 25 reported cases of toddlers sexually molested across 13 states. The figures, though likely underreported, shows the prevalence of the crime, with Lagos State topping the chart with nine cases, followed by Delta State with three.

Other states where incidents were recorded include Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Cross River, Ogun, Ondo and Yobe; all with one case each, while Bauchi, Kogi and Niger states recorded two cases each.

The data suggests that abuse is not confined to a particular region or social class but spreads across urban and rural settings alike.

A striking pattern from the data reveals that the majority of perpetrators are often people familiar with the children and their families. Even more alarming is the age of the victims, where the reported cases showed that the victims were between the ages of two and three years, while some were even less than two years of age.

The gender breakdown is equally distressing, as 23 of the 25 victims were girls, reinforcing global trends that show girls bear the greater burden of sexual violence in childhood.

Among the reported cases by Daily Trust is that of a 65-year-old man, Idris Danladi, who was arraigned before a Badagry Chief Magistrates’ Court in August 2024 for allegedly defiling a one-year-old girl. The court, presided over by Magistrate Patrick Adekomaiya, ordered Danladi’s remand at the Awarjigoh Correctional Centre after he pleaded not guilty.

In another incident reported by Daily Trust, an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court ordered the remand of a man, Abiodun Sodiq, over allegations of defiling a three-year-old girl on January 25, 2024, at about 6.35pm on SBJ Oshofa Road in the Ajah area of Lagos. The state counsel, Ms Inumidun Solarin, informed the court that the defendant unlawfully had sexual intercourse with the minor, an act which, she said, violates Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

Similarly, another court in Ikeja remanded a 30-year-old fashion designer, Idris Adams, for allegedly defiling his neighbour’s two-year-old daughter. The incident was brought before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court, where the presiding Magistrate, Mrs Bola Osunsanmi, declined to take the plea of the accused and ordered that he be kept in custody at Kirikiri Correctional Centre. The matter was adjourned until March 28, 2024, pending legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

Also, in October of 2024, a 32-year-old man, Wahaab Ibrahim was arrested in Lagos for allegedly defiling his neighbour’s four-year-old niece. The suspect was said to have taken advantage of the child while her guardian was away.

According to eyewitness accounts gathered by Daily Trust’s City & Crime desk, the man lured the girl into his one-room apartment and abused her.

Complaints of child sexual molestation in Nigeria increased in 2024, generating concern among rights advocates and humanitarian agencies over the increasing vulnerability of minors across the country.

According to data from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), reports of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against children, which includes cases of child sexual abuse rose sharply across the year, with an alarming number of victims being minors.

The NHRC’s 2024 Human Rights Situation Dashboard indicates that 52,932 child sexual assault complaints were received between January and December 2024. This is from the 137, 119 SGBV-related complaints totally recorded by the commission within the year under review.

Lagos records 3,215 child sexual abuse cases in 2024 aloneIn Lagos State alone, 3,215 cases of sexual violence against children and minors were recorded in 2024, according to data from the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA). The figure forms part of the 9,279 total cases of domestic and sexual violence reported within the same year in the state, as published by Punch Newspaper.

The data points to a consistent and troubling trend, with the majority of perpetrators being relatives or persons known to the victims’ families, as the data shows. This reinforces earlier findings by Daily Trust that perpetrators of child sexual violence are not strangers, but neighbours, uncles, cousins, stepfathers and other familiar faces.

The rise In reported cases over the years also indicates that the crisis is deepening. DSVA records show that 3,943 cases were reported in 2021, rising to 5,929 in 2022, then 6,389 in 2023, and reaching 9,279 in 2024.

Despite the increasing number of cases, justice for survivors remains rare. Data from the Lagos Sex Offenders Register, maintained by the DSVA, reveals that only nine perpetrators were convicted between 2020 and 2024.

CSO speaks

According to Cece Yara, a child advocacy centre in Nigeria, cases of such assaults were on the rise.

In an interview with one of the centre’s field officers, Azeez Ojifowoke, he, said “We had a case of a six-month-old baby, still wearing pampers, who was sexually abused in Ajah, recently” he recalled.

“It’s so sad because toddlers can’t speak.

It’s usually when the mother notices redness around the child’s private part that the abuse is discovered” he added.

According to Azeez, most of the reported toddler abuse cases involve girls, and the numbers continue to rise.

“I’ve handled many of child sexual abuse cases, and the majority of toddler victims are female,” he said.

According to him, the organisation refers such cases to Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) for treatment .

However, Azeez noted that justice remains elusive in many instances due to cultural pressures and community resistance.

“Some families are discouraged from reporting. They’re told, ‘Are you the first? Collect money. Let God judge it,’” he explained.

“But in Lagos State, once the victim is under 18, the government doesn’t joke with child sexual abuse. There are structures for immediate response, awareness campaigns, and legal support” he added.

While Lagos records consistent reports, he expressed concern over other regions where few or no cases are reported.

“That doesn’t mean abuse isn’t happening. It may just be hidden by silence and stigma,” he said.

1 in 5 girls, women victims of childhood sexual violence – UNICEF

More than 650 million girls and women across the world have suffered sexual violence in their childhood, according to a new report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in October 2024. The figure includes over 370 million females who were subjected to rape or sexual assault as children, with the remaining number accounting for those exposed to non-contact forms of sexual abuse such as online grooming, verbal harassment and exposure to sexually explicit content.

According to UNICEF, Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of female victims, with 79 million girls and women estimated to have experienced sexual violence as children. This is followed by Eastern and South-Eastern Asia with 75 million, Central and Southern Asia with 73 million, Europe and Northern America with 68 million, Latin America and the Caribbean with 45 million, Northern Africa and Western Asia with 29 million, and Oceania with 6 million.

Although the report focuses primarily on girls and women due to wider data availability and reporting, it acknowledges that a significant number of boys and men are also victims of childhood sexual violence. UNICEF estimates that between 240 million and 310 million boys and men worldwide, approximately one in every eleven, experienced rape or sexual assault during childhood. When non-contact abuse is included, this estimate rises sharply to between 410 million and 530 million males affected globally.

Parents decry assaults on toddlers

For Mrs Alheri Emmanuel, a mother of three girls, the news of toddler sexual abuse is not just disturbing, it is deeply personal and haunting.

“Honestly, as a mother I feel so bad, worried and depressed,” she told Weekend Trust. She blames lapses in parenting and societal trust.

“Parents sometimes don’t give their children enough attention, especially the girl child. We focus on work, house chores, and leave our kids with people we barely know. That’s dangerous,” she said, urging mothers to be more vigilant about where their children go, who they play with, and how they are touched.

She believes that early education and communication with children are crucial. “Parents should start teaching their girl child to speak out. If anyone touches their private parts, they should say it,” she advised. “Be very conscious and observant. Don’t just leave your kids anywhere,” she added.

She also called on the Nigerian government to step up punitive measures against child abusers. “To me, the government shouldn’t treat this as a simple crime. If someone sexually assaults a toddler, that person should face the death penalty. Such a person is a danger to society and should not be allowed to walk free,” she stated.

Fatimah Abdullahi, a mother of two in Kano, said the rising cases of toddler abuse is alarming.

“It breaks my heart,” she said. “How can someone harm a child that doesn’t even understand anything yet? A baby?”

“I used to think things like this only happen in movies or faraway places. But now, it’s everywhere; even in our communities,” she said.

Fatimah calls for collective vigilance.

“The government cannot do everything. We, as parents, must guard our children like our life depends on it, she said.

These children carry scars we cannot see – Nurse

While legal and social responses to toddler sexual abuse continue to evolve, health professionals are among the first to witness the immediate and long-term consequences of such horrors.

Musa Suleiman, a registered nurse with over a decade experience in trauma care, said the medical outcomes of sexual abuse on toddlers are often devastating, both physically and psychologically.

“The immediate dangers are physical injuries such as tears or lacerations in the vaginal or anal area,” he said, adding that in some cases, these injuries cause severe bleeding, leading to shock, anaemia, or even death, especially if help does not come quickly.

Suleiman noted that many of the perpetrators carry sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and toddlers, due to their undeveloped immune systems, are at risk of contracting life-threatening diseases.

“An adult who is HIV-positive or has Hepatitis B can pass that on to a child during the assault,” he said.

“Unfortunately, many of these infections don’t show signs immediately. They take months or even years to manifest, and by then the child may already have been denied good health, and a chance at a normal life,” he added.

Beyond the physical trauma, Suleiman emphasised that the psychological impact can even be more enduring.

“The experience of sexual abuse rewires a child’s mind. It distorts how they see the world and how they relate with people. They lose trust. They carry fear.

Some children become withdrawn, aggressive, or develop behavioural problems that follow them into adulthood,” he said.

He warned that many children who suffer such abuse early in life may grow up with fragile self-esteem, poor decision-making abilities, and a persistent sense of worthlessness.

“Their sense of safety is shattered before they even learn how to form full sentences,” Suleiman said.

‘Victims exhibits psychological traits’

Child psychologist, ThankGod Ocheho explained that toddlers who experience sexual abuse may be unable to verbally express what happened, but their behaviour often tells the story.

According to him, the earliest signs of abuse usually manifest through sudden and unusual changes in the child’s conduct.

“First thing we need to understand is that toddlers who are sexually abused often cannot express what happened in words because they don’t have enough language to express that. But their behavioural changes tell the story.”

Ocheho listed several indicators, including sleep disturbances, nightmares, and a strong fear of sleeping alone. He also identified an abrupt fear of people or specific places as a red flag. “When you see them afraid of certain people or they are afraid of going to certain places, you need to pay attention to that,” he warned.

Other behaviours of concern include excessive crying, withdrawal, unusual interest in their private parts, clinginess and separation anxiety. “Another one is regression,” he added, explaining that toddlers who had outgrown behaviours like bedwetting or baby talk may suddenly return to them as a psychological response to trauma.

However, Ocheho cautioned against drawing immediate conclusions. “When you see any of these effects, don’t just make the conclusion that this person has been sexually abused. It could be another traumatic event that caused it. Until we find out, we can’t know for sure.”

Legal framework on child sexual assault in Nigeria

Nigeria has a range of legal instruments that criminalise child sexual abuse and provide for the protection of minors against sexual violence. These laws include the Criminal Code Act (applicable in southern Nigeria), the Penal Code (applicable in the North), the Child’s Rights Act 2003 (CRA), the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 (VAPP Act), and state-specific laws and policies.

The Child’s Rights Act 2003, the most comprehensive national law on the protection of children, defines a child as a person below the age of 18 and criminalises all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse of children.

Section 31 of the CRA provides that:

“A person who has sexual intercourse with a child is guilty of an offence of rape and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.”

The same section further clarifies that:

“Where a person is charged with an offence under this section, it is immaterial that,

(a) the offender believed the person to be of or above the age of 18 years; or

(b) the sexual intercourse was with the consent of the child.”

This means that under Nigerian law, a child cannot legally give consent to sexual activity, and any such act is considered statutory rape, regardless of purported consent or the offender’s belief about the child’s age.

In the northern part of the country, where the Penal Code is applicable, Section 283 criminalises sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 14. The Code provides that:“Whoever has sexual intercourse with a girl under fourteen years of age with or without her consent, except by a married man with his own wife, such intercourse not being rape, shall be punished with imprisonment for life or for any less term and shall also be liable to a fine.”

In addition to these, the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPP), 2015, which is applicable in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and domesticated by over 30 states, offers broader protections against sexual and gender-based violence, including sexual abuse of children. Section 1 of the Act provides:

“A person commits the offence of rape if:

(a) he or she intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person with any other part of his or her body or anything else;

(b) without the consent of the other person; or

(c) with the consent of the other person if the consent is obtained by force, or means of threat, intimidation, fear of harm or deception.”

To strengthen the legal fight against child sexual assault, experts have called for the full domestication of the Child’s Rights Act and VAPP Act across all 36 states, establishment of family courts, sexual assault referral centres (SARCs), and training for law enforcement and judicial officers on handling child-sensitive cases.

Frank Tietie Esq, a human right activist, noted that Nigeria is not doing enough yet to curtail this menace.

“We need to use more people as an example,” he said, noting that the children that are affected are mainly from poor homes, who cannot afford legal representation.

“The people involved often close the matter because the police easily compromise. Any form of child molestation is supposed to earn a life imprisonment, but the prosecutorial authorities are compromised,” he added.

According to him, there is need to increase the campaign against child sexual abuse. (Weekend Trust, excluding headline)