The Kano State Police Command say they have arrested a man after 40 people were raped in one town over the period of a year.

 

A mother in Dangora, Kano, caught the man in her children’s bedroom, according to police spokesman Abdullahi Haruna. The man ran away but neighbours chased and caught him, he added.

 

The man was arrested on Tuesday, June 9.

 

The command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Abdullahi Haruna confirmed this in a statement that reads: “Police on Tuesday arrested 32-year-old Muhammad Alfa in Kwanar Dangora, an outskirt of Kano.

 

“During interrogation, the man confessed to have raped more than 40 female in a year, including girls, married women, as well as an 80-year-old.”

 

The police say the spate of rapes included an attack on children as young as 10 years old.

 

The chief of the town, Ahmadu Yau, said the arrest is a welcome development.

 

“People of Dangora are so happy at this time and we hope justice will be served appropriately.”

 

Residents told the BBC that they had lived the last year in fear, even in their own homes, because they had heard that a serial rapist was climbing fences and raping women indoors.

 

“We can now sleep with our eyes closed,” one woman told the BBC.