By The family of a teenage girl has accused Muhammed Salifu, head of the Igala Community in Lagos, of defiling her twice in December 2023, leading to a pregnancy, a stillborn child and lasting physical harm, in a case that has now been reported to police and Lagos State’s domestic violence agency without an arrest.
How the Family Came to Know Salifu
According to the teenager’s mother, Mrs Elizabeth Yakubu, the family first encountered the 58 year old chief through her husband, who belonged to the same town union association. In 2023, Salifu reportedly took an interest in the teenager’s future, asking whether she hoped to continue her education or learn a trade. She had shown interest in tailoring, and Salifu offered to help, taking her to an established tailor in the neighbourhood, paying for her apprenticeship and signing her enrollment form himself.
The First Alleged Assault
Mrs Yakubu said that in December 2023, when the family mentioned plans to travel to their hometown in Kogi State, Salifu offered to lodge them at a hotel near his home in Ojota so they could set off early the next morning. She said the chief took her eldest daughter upstairs to view the room while the rest of the family waited at the reception, and that once upstairs, he allegedly locked the door and forced himself on her. Mrs Yakubu said nobody downstairs, including hotel staff, heard anything, and that Salifu allegedly threatened to kill her daughter if she told anyone. She recalled noticing her daughter was visibly unhappy afterward but had no idea at the time what had happened.
A Second Alleged Assault and a Pregnancy
Mrs Yakubu alleged that later that same month, Salifu again contacted her, this time asking permission for the teenager to help some of his housewives with household chores ahead of his coronation ceremony. After the work was done, she said the chief told the teenager to stay overnight in a hotel apartment rather than travel home, and that in the early hours of December 27, he allegedly entered the apartment and assaulted her again, followed by another threat to keep silent. When the teenager missed her next period, she told her mother, and a hospital visit confirmed she was pregnant.
Confrontation and an Alleged Attempt to Push for Abortion
The family confronted Salifu, who initially denied responsibility, prompting a report to Igala community elders. According to a petition filed with police, when elders confronted him, he asked for time to settle the matter privately and suggested a joint visit to his hospital in Ojota, where the pregnancy was confirmed to be his. The petition alleges that later that evening, Salifu transferred N50,000 into Mrs Yakubu’s account to fund an abortion, an offer she refused, saying she valued her daughter’s life too much to risk it. The family’s lawyer, Kazeem Adebanjo, said Salifu blocked their phone contact once they declined.
The Birth, a Baby’s Death and a Father’s Death
Adebanjo said the Yakubus sold off much of their property to support the teenager through her pregnancy. When she went into labour, doctors performed a caesarean section, but the newborn struggled to breathe and was rushed to a general hospital, where the baby died seven days later. The hospital reportedly refused to discharge the teenager until outstanding fees for the caesarean were settled, forcing her father to appeal to village elders, who sent N300,000 to cover the bill. Adebanjo alleged that Salifu never reached out to check on the family throughout this period, and that the teenager’s father later died as a result of the cumulative toll of the ordeal.
Mrs Yakubu said her daughter’s womb was damaged by complications during the difficult birth, leaving her stomach visibly swollen even now. She described her daughter’s life as permanently altered and appealed publicly for help securing justice.
Police and DSVA Involvement
The case was reported to Ketu Police Station, with officers reportedly visiting Salifu’s home to arrest him but failing to locate him. The family also filed a complaint with the Gender Desk of the Lagos State Police Command, and separately with the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, which issued referral letters dated August 21 and August 31, 2026, addressed to the Divisional Police Officer at Ketu and the Commissioner of Police in Lagos respectively. The letters, signed by DSVA Head of Case Management Mrs Tumininu Oni, described the allegations as constituting defilement and indecent treatment of a child under Lagos State’s Child Rights Law, Protection Against Domestic Violence Law and Criminal Law, and urged police to investigate the matter thoroughly. Attempts to reach state Police Public Relations Officer Adebisi Abimbola for comment were unsuccessful as of the time of this report.
Salifu’s Response
When first contacted, Salifu questioned how the newspaper had obtained his number and said he was in Cotonou, Benin Republic, promising his lawyer would respond the next day. He offered a brief comment of his own, suggesting the allegations were politically motivated by rivals contesting a kingship position, and questioned why the family had waited until now, amid that leadership dispute, to pursue the matter, despite the incident dating back to 2023. He said he had intended to marry the teenager and support her education. Asked about their respective ages, Salifu said the teenager was 22 and stated that he was born in 1968, an account that conflicts with the family’s statement that she was a minor, born in January 2008, at the time of the alleged assaults.
When followed up with days later, Salifu said he had travelled again and would return later in the week. A spokesperson for the Igala Community in Lagos, Abubakar Agene, subsequently asked that all questions be directed to him instead. After an extended back and forth involving identity verification requests and a cited scheduling conflict with the Zone 2 Lagos Police Command, Agene eventually said in a text message that the matter was before the courts and that he could not comment further.
Conflicting Claims Over the Case’s Status
A source within the Yakubu family disputed Agene’s claim, saying no case had yet reached court and that the matter remained with the police Gender Desk. A police source within that unit corroborated the family’s account, confirming the case had not gone to court and that Salifu remained at large, having been tracked to several locations from which he had reportedly moved on quickly each time.
(Punch)
