Man allegedly rapes 12-year-old stepdaughter in Bayelsa

A 40-year-old man has allegedly defiled and sodomized his 12-year-old stepdaughter in the Obunagha community of Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State. Residents said the victim was in severe pain and was rushed to the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH), Okolobiri, with anal bleeding and other related injuries.  The suspect, identified as a bricklayer […]

A 40-year-old man has allegedly defiled and sodomized his 12-year-old stepdaughter in the Obunagha community of Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.

Residents said the victim was in severe pain and was rushed to the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH), Okolobiri, with anal bleeding and other related injuries. 

The suspect, identified as a bricklayer in the community, was handed over to the State Rapid Response Unit of the Nigeria Police Force, popularly known as ‘Operation Doo Akpor,’ after being flogged by local youths.

Daily Trust gathered that angry indigenes apprehended the suspect after noticing the victim’s cries and injuries. 

The biological father of the victim, who preferred anonymity, described the incident as tragic and confirmed that the girl is currently under intensive care at the hospital. 

He added that the family is considering prosecution after due consultation.

Pere Orufa, former president of the Gbarain Youth Federation, and the human rights organization ‘DO Foundation,’ led by Dr. Dise Ogbise Goddy Harry, have deployed field officers to monitor the situation. Confirming the incident, Orufa said while the suspect had allegedly abused the victim once before—allegedly with the mother’s knowledge—this recent attack caused severe trauma.

“When he did it again, the girl experienced severe pain and was bleeding. The mother raised the alarm, which led to the community apprehending the suspect,” he said.

Orufa described the act as disgraceful and wicked, advising mothers to be more vigilant. 

The Founder of the DO Foundation, Dr. Dise Ogbise Goddy Harry, also confirmed the incident. 

She noted that this incident, along with two others recorded between December 2025 and January 2026, is deeply worrisome for gender-based organizations.

She said: “As an organization, we are once again awakened to our responsibilities. We need to revisit our sensitization strategies and look for preventive measures to end child sexual abuse. Between January and now, we have recorded three cases where the perpetrators were stepfathers. Between October and December last year, we also had two cases involving neighbors and girls aged between 7 and 12.”

“These incidents call for urgent collaborative intervention by all key actors in the fight against Gender-Based Violence (GBV). We call on the Bayelsa State Police Command to thoroughly investigate these matters and ensure these pedophiles are prosecuted. We shall ensure that no pedophile walks freely on the streets of Bayelsa State again,” she added.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Bayelsa State Police Command, DSP Musa Muhammad, said the matter is currently being handled by the ‘Operation Doo Akpor’ special team and is yet to be formally transferred to the state command.