You can imagine what this world is turning to raping own daughter incredible
......Read,according to punch
Four-year-old Rebecca (not real name) was a
normal baby when she was born. She was bubbling
with life, but following several sexual assaults on
her by her 37-year-old father, identified as
Ademola, little Rebecca has lost her voice. She has
not been able to talk for the past few weeks.
She looked forlornly and occasionally fell asleep in
the arms of her mother, Folake, 32, who was visibly
distressed as she explained to Saturday PUNCH
how her husband of 14 years had been molesting
their daughter.
Blessed with four children; three girls, including a
set of twins, and a boy, she reminisced about how
they used to live as one (happy) family in the Igando
area of Lagos before things took a grim turn and
she caught her husband committing one of the most
gruesome crimes against their second daughter –
sexual assault.
She noted that apart from having sexual intercourse
with the little girl on several occasions, she had
caught her husband inserting his finger into her
private part more than once, all of which had
traumatised Rebecca and made her a shadow of
her real self.
The unfortunate incident seems to be tearing the
family further apart as she has not only moved out
of the house; she has vowed never to return, whilst
accusing her husband of being diabolical.
She began, "It started in 2013 when I suddenly
woke up one night and saw my husband removing
the panties of my daughter. It was in the midnight. I
wanted to shout but I wanted to see what he was up
to. So, I pretended as if I didn't see him because the
room was relatively dark.
"When he pulled down her pant, he looked around
and when he felt convinced that everyone was deep
asleep, he stood up and moved to where the girl
was and dipped his hand in her private part. I
screamed.
"To say I was shocked was to say the least. He
was shocked too because he didn't know anyone
was watching, so he quickly stood up, pulled up his
trousers and started beating me."
According to Folake, the experience she had that
night was enough for her to leave his house, but
she said she had to stay because she was already
pregnant for him at the time.
She continued, "He beat me that night such that
blood came out of my body. I didn't even know I
was pregnant until that night and the pregnancy was
about two months old. I ran away from him for
some time and I told my relatives. But I had to go
back because of the pregnancy and that was when I
had a set of twins for him."
To Folake, her husband had turned a new leaf and
would never do such a despicable act again, but
unknown to her, other things had been going on
without her knowledge. She said the straw that
broke the camel's back happened on July 17, 2015
when she caught him molesting her daughter again
the same way he did before.
With her eyes soaked in tears, she said, "I thought
he had stopped until the night of July 17, 2015
around 1am. It was a Friday. Rebecca was sleeping
beside me but I saw him stand up, he carried the
girl to the other side of the bed. He didn't know I
was awake. I had wanted to shout but I wanted to
know what he was up to again. So, he removed his
trousers, turned his back at me and crawled to
where Rebecca was lying.
"He didn't know I was looking at him. He pulled
down her panties and started inserting his finger in
her private part again. I thought I was dreaming. I
screamed and continued shouting. He was shocked
and couldn't talk. He was just looking. Then, he
went back to sleep.
"The following morning, I challenged him why he
was doing that to his own child. I know he is
diabolical, so I told him if his plan was to use my
daughter for anything evil, he would not prosper.
That was what got him angry and he started beating
me. He said he would kill me. Then, my other
children started crying and shouting, and he didn't
stop until one of our neighbours intervened.
"The following day, I went to the church to report to
the shepherd of the church he was attending,
Celestial Church of Christ, somewhere around
Ikotun in Alimosho Local Government. The
shepherd was shocked too but he pleaded with me
to exercise patience. Because of the fear of what he
could do to us, we left the house and moved to the
church and we kept sleeping there."
Folake explained that her estranged husband, who
is a motor mechanic in Ikotun area, came to the
church, beat her and forcefully took away their 17-
month-old twins, whom she was still breastfeeding,
noting that the two girls had been in his custody
since then.
Her seven-year-old boy, identified simply as Seun,
who appeared sharp-minded, told our
correspondent that he used to see his father on top
of his sister, maintaining that he had caught him
twice in the act of putting his hand "under" his
sister. He explained that his father used to rub his
hands all over Rebecca's body but he barely knew
what he was up to.
Disturbed by the incident, Folake said she reported
the assault at the Igando Police Station and to the
Executive Director, Esther Child Rights Foundation,
Mrs. Esther Ogwu, who had helped to monitor the
case with the police. Folake added that some of the
policemen in the station even laughed at her when
they heard about the case.
Ogwu told Saturday PUNCH that it would be in the
interest of all if justice was done on the matter,
saying she would follow the matter to its conclusion.
She added, "We have involved the National Human
Rights Commission, Office of the Public Defender
and the Lagos State Ministry of Justice in the case
so as to ensure justice. It is increasingly becoming
important for parents to pay due attention to their
children to guard them against assault."
Even though a test conducted on the girl at the
Mirabel Sexual Assault Referral Centre at the Lagos
State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos,
confirmed that the girl had been assaulted and her
hymen broken, Folake noted that to her dismay,
Ademola had been released on bail by the police,
and that the police in Igando had been foot-dragging
in taking the case to court.
Recounting how bad she had been battered and
assaulted by the husband, Folake noted that her
worry was that the man who had done both spiritual
and psychological damage to her little daughter
should was about to go scot free.
"This girl's private part has almost become rotten
and as young as she is, her breast is already
coming out, and she limps occasionally. I can never
entrust my children into his hands and that is why
I'm worried about the twins that are with him. They
are also girls. I don't want him to molest them too.
"He had afflicted us with charm but we have been
set free. The two children in school have been very
retarded, coupled with the fact that Rebecca has not
been talking until she did twice just two months
ago. And since then, she has stopped again. She
just doesn't talk and she urinates frequently. She
should be in Nursery One now but she seems not to
be coping. Even her teachers are complaining she
had become a recluse and she keeps urinating all
the time."
Meanwhile, when Saturday PUNCH contacted
Ademola over the allegations levelled against him
by his wife and son, he denied, saying, his wife was
looking for ways to move out of his house, thus, she
had to "cook up lies against him."
He added, "She is lying against me. I didn't do any
of those things they were saying. She has seen
someone else she wants to marry and that was why
she left the house."
The Divisional Police Officer, Igando Police Station,
Mr. Segun Fagbohun, told Saturday PUNCH that he
had transferred Ademola and the case to the State
Criminal Investigation Department at Yaba for
further investigation.
