₦airaland Forum

Fourteen-year-old Jane (not real name) stared at her
feet as she recounted her four-year ordeal in the
hands of a neighbour, Felix Emmanuel, an Edo State
indigene, who took advantage of her innocence.
At 14, she explained that if she knew that the threats
that had kept her quiet from disclosing what she was
going through were mere lies, she would have told her
mother about what was happening to her before it
went on for too long.
Fair-complexioned with sadness clearly showing in her
eyes, there was no doubt that Jane had suffered, in
silence, as her single mother was none the wiser about
the regular sexual abuse her daughter was being
subjected to.
“He (Emmanuel) first raped me in 2011 when I was 10
years old. He brought out a calabash with cowries in it
and told me that if I told anybody, I would die within
24 hours,” she told our correspondent, sobbing.
Her mother comforted her and urged her on.
Jane has lost her father but care for the family fell on
her struggling mother, Margaret, who also regretted
that she did not notice the abuse her daughter was
subjected to over the last four years.
Jane, a senior secondary year one student, lives in the
same compound with Emmanuel, a 28-year-old
unemployed secondary school drop-out, in Egbeda
area of Lagos.
The girl told Saturday PUNCH, “The first time he raped
me, my mother sent me on errand. I was passing by his
room on my way back when he called me.
“I did not know what he wanted from me, but I
answered him. But as soon as I stepped in the door, he
covered my mouth and dragged me to an unoccupied
room in the building.
“I noticed that there was another person inside the
room – Jerome – who I knew as a friend to Emmanuel.
“Jerome pinned me down and covered my mouth and
Emmanuel raped me in the room. When he was done,
he gave me a handkerchief to clean up the blood that
was coming out from my body.
“He demanded for the handkerchief but I did not give
it back to him because I did not know what he wanted
it for. When I was about to leave the room, that was
when he brought out the calabash, threatened and
warned me not to ever tell anybody what happened.”
But unknown to Jane, that was just the beginning of a
series of sexual abuses in the hand of Emmanuel, an
act that would later escalate to the point where he
started to invite his friends over to partake in the orgy.
Over the next two years, Jane had changed a lot and
she became erratic in the house.
Margaret said, “When I noticed the way she changed, I
asked if anybody was molesting her, but she said no. I
thought maybe she needed a change of environment,
so, I sent her to live with my sister in Ghana in
November 2013.
“But when she got to Ghana, she started to misbehave
again. My sister was curious and one day asked if she
was still a virgin. She (Jane) refused to answer. But she
later took her for a test and confirmed that she had
been sexually active.
“When my sister asked her who defiled her, she told
her it was our neighbour but I could not confront him
even though I saw him everyday. I simply did not
know what to do because I thought if I made it a
police issue, I might not be able to afford the cost that
may come with that.”
Saturday PUNCH learnt that Jane was later returned to
Nigeria in October 2014 but as soon as she got back,
she caught the eyes of Emmanuel and her cohorts
again.
Jane said, “When I got back to Nigeria, I decided to
stay clear of Emmanuel, I was afraid and tried to avoid
him. But one day, I was sent on errand and he told me
to help drop some tubers of yam for his mother along
the way, while I waited outside to collect the yam, he
dragged me into his room.
“That day, Emmanuel and three friends of his – Ayo,
Felix, Mugambo – took turns to rape me. Some days
after that, he also took me to his room, he raped me
six times. When I fainted, he splashed water on me to
revive me. Sometimes, he used condom, sometimes, he
did not. I just want him to go to jail for what he did to
me.”
Jane said Emmanuel always referred to the calabash in
his room anytime she protested.
Jane’s mother who said she did not understand that
there may be a connection with the sexual abuse her
daughter had suffered and her erratic behaviour,
always beat the girl until the Esther Child Rights
Foundation was notified.
Executive Director of the foundation, Esther Ogwu,
said she was notified about the abuse of the child but
only learnt of the series of sexual abuses the girl had
been subjected to over the years when she interviewed
her.
Ogwu said, “The girl has suffered so much. But the
mother did not see this, she only saw a girl that was
misbehaving. It is absolutely wrong to beat a child that
has suffered sexual abuses because that is not the
solution.
“The first step we took was to take the girl to the
hospital for test. The doctors confirmed that the girl
had been sexually assaulted on multiple cases. The
scary part was that she had contracted so much
infections that we had to ensure that was treated
urgently.
“We later got the police involved and we are happy
that action was taken on the issue.”
Emmanuel was arrested and transferred to the
Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba Lagos.
He has since been arraigned at the Family Court 6,
Ikeja, Lagos on charges of defilement and sexual abuse.
He was granted N200,000 bail.
Ogwu said Jane’s mother has a share in the blame of
what her daughter went through.
“Any mother who is close to her daughter and is
observant should be able to tell if she is being abused
over such a long period of time. Many parents are
simply not doing enough to secure their female
children against sexual predators,” she said.



Copyright PUNCH.

Omg! What a world!

DIIGZ:
Omg! What a world!

My Brother, that is what people have to battle with, everyday.

who was counting d rounds

sammyyoung2:
who was counting d rounds

.
How can u be saying this?. If it was ur sister or ur mother, would u ask this question?

sammyyoung2:
who was counting d rounds

uuuhhmmm...let me ask ifa...Perhaps it's a question for the gods.

The world don bad finish.

Rape & different form of abuses.

Vry vry bad