Senator Elisha Abbo
By Our Reporter
The Police have filed rape charges against Senator Elisha Abbo, accusing him of the rape and sexual assault of a 13-year-old schoolgirl.
The charges were filed at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja on October 30.
People Gazette reports that the Inspector General of Police’s legal team submitted nine counts against the former lawmaker, who represented Adamawa North Senatorial District until an appellate court sacked him in October 2023.
The charges border on rape, sexual molestation, and other related offences against a minor.
The legal action follows a police investigation into the disturbing allegations, which concluded that there was sufficient evidence “to test the case in court.”
The charges stem from a detailed account provided by the victim, a Junior Secondary School 3 (JSS3) student. In her testimony, she alleged that the incident occurred on Sunday, June 29.
According to her narrative, she was approached at her home in Gwarimpa by her elder sister’s friend, Nafisa Chigli, who persuaded her to accompany her to a relative’s house. After initial reluctance, the minor agreed.
They took a ride to a residence in Katampe Extension, where they were welcomed by Mr. Abbo. The former senator allegedly collected their phones upon their arrival.
She alleged that the lawmaker instructed Miss Chigli to give them some privacy before proceeding to molest her. The 18-year-old Miss Chigli was told to wait in the bathroom adjoining Mr. Abbo’s bedroom.
According to the victim, after Miss Chigli left the room, Mr. Abbo forcefully undressed her. She said she had been wearing a hijab, a kimono, and a two-piece outfit — all of which the senator allegedly removed.
The victim, in tears, recounted that Mr. Abbo smothered her trembling, exposed body with unwanted kisses, ignoring her repeated pleas to “please, stop.”
She added that the more she cried and resisted, the more aggressive and angry the former lawmaker became.
When questioned about whether he had engaged in anal penetration, she denied it, stating, “He did not enter,” as was done to her private parts.
She said he only dripped the baby oil on her anal region and rubbed his private parts on it against her protests.
The victim alleged that Mr. Abbo poured a white substance on her genital area while whispering strange words.
“When I kept telling him to stop, he said I should keep quiet and call him daddy,” she said, adding that all her attempts to push him off of her only enraged him as he threatened to “go deeper and hurt me” if she continued to fight him.
“He was on me and I was trying to like …push him, but he kept telling me that if I removed his hand, he would go deeper and hurt me,” the victim told The Gazette in tears. “After a while, he was jerking off, and something white was coming out of him.”
The minor alleged that Abbo raped her and threatened to kill her and her family if she disclosed the incident to anyone.
Her account, along with the findings of the police, formed the basis for the charges brought against Abbo, who has strongly denied the allegations but must now prove his innocence in court.
Abbo stated that the minor accompanied a relative of his to his house and that they did not stay long. He admitted sending the minor N50,000 for “ice cream” via her father’s driver’s account and said he sent the same amount to Miss Chigli.
The former senator accused the two of stealing his wife’s gold earrings and necklace on June 30, the day after their visit, but both denied the claim.
He reported the alleged theft to Dawaki Police Station on July 16.
Abbo also transferred N200,000 to the minor after she informed him about her birthday party. Police reviewed his WhatsApp chats and confirmed the minor had requested money to celebrate her 14th birthday.
He further alleged that Zainab Mohammed, the minor’s mother, began tarnishing his reputation with false accusations and demanded N5 million to stop making the claims.
He said he refused, arguing that paying would imply guilt. According to him, his refusal angered Ms. Mohammed, who subsequently escalated the matter to the police.
The Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) seized Abbo’s Tecno Spark 40 phone for forensic examination.
While they found adult nude images downloaded from the internet, none belonged to the minor, as alleged by Ms. Mohammed and former Senator Bima, the victim’s father.
Analysis of the phones belonging to Miss Chigli and her mother also produced no evidence supporting the rape allegation.
The police noted that the complainant, the minor’s mother, refused to submit her daughter’s phone for investigation.
However, a criminal suit was instituted against Abbo to fully investigate the matter.
“There is a need to test this case in the court of law, as this will go a long way to satisfy the curiosity of the society,” the police stated in the report signed by Rita Emesim Oyintare, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Gender) at the FCID.
“That you, Senator Ishaku Elisha Abbo of Katampe Extension, Abuja, on or about 29th June, 2025, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did an illegal act, to wit, threat to life, when you threatened one and raped her without her consent,” read as the fifth count in the police case against the former lawmaker.”
