Rape cases on the rise: Sons from hell on prowl

WADE si ta (Come outside)! Olori buruku f# (a very unfortunate person)! E gba mi o (Help me)! With palpable anger, Ms. Yetunde Alani ( not real name), popularly known as Iya Shade, stood menacingly at the doorstep of her neighbour, Segun Adeola, a.k.a 'Uncle', who hawks barbing tools in traffic.

Her shrill voice had woken up her neighbours about 5.00am on mat fate morning of Friday, May 11. And almost immediately, the ramshackle bungalow in Aiangbadi area of Lagos suddenly became a Mecca of sorts, as several people, out of curiosity, literally abandoned the comfort of their beds and raced towards her.

It was the landlady, an Alhaja, who first approached her. "Ki lo de, Iya Shade! (what's the matter, Iya Shade?)," she inquired. Obviously devastated, she replied: "Mummy, Oloriburuku yi ti ba' ye mi je (This unfortunate man has ruined my life." Then, in a rancorous tone, the crowd chorused: "Ki to sefun el Ohun

As if she was tormented by some invisible spirit, the thirty-two-year-old woman, who was clad in a boubou dress and barefooted, tore through the crow, dashed into her one-room apartment and pulled out Shade, her eight-year-old child. The innocent-looking girl was in pains, and was weeping. Her fes betrayed her emotion.

ith tears cascading her cheeks^ Iya Shade dropped a bombshell, which shocked the entire neighbour out of their wits: O ba Sade sun ni o! (He raped Sade)!" Haa! The crowd exclaimed thunderously. Still enraged, she continued: "Last night, I went to church for our weekly vigil. By the time I was going, Shade was still busy with ner homework. So, as usual, I asked her to lock the door.

But when I came back this morning, I observed that she was weeping. I was curious and I wondered what could have gone wrong. Then, I also noticed that her steps were wobbly. So, I asked her if she had fever, but she Just shrugged her shoulders. Then, 1 persuaded her to tell me what was wrong with her. It was then she barely muttered how Uncle cunningly came into our room last night and raped her."

Ngbo, Shade? (Is it true, Sade?) the crowd asked, angrily. With her head drooped, Shade, who was visibly embarrassed, narrated her encounter in a rather childish way, saying, "After my mummy had left for church last night, I heard someone tapping the door. When I asked who the person was, he mentioned his name as Uncle. I asked if he needed anything and he said he wanted to ask mummy for a home movie he lent her last week.

But I told him mummy had gone to church. So, he asked me to look for the movie   for  him. Then, I opened the door and he came in. So, we both began to search for it. But I didn't know he had discreetly locked the door. At a point,! felt his hand on my buttocks. I resisted (she sobbed again). Then, he moved closer to me and touched my breasts. I wanted to scream, but he gagged me and warned me not to raise the alarm... .and then, he began to say all of sorts of things (then, she stopped abruptly).

At that juncture, her mother erupted: "So'ro...so nkan to sefun e now( Talk... tell them exactly what he did). So, Shade continued: "eh, eh.... He just... (She wanted to pull up her dress to indicate what she meant, but the crowd stopped her). I was crying, and he pleaded with me not to disclose it to anyone. He even promised to buy me a few things. Before he left, he gave me some medicines (She displayed some of the remaining pills). He stayed with me for a long time before he left."

When it dawned on the crowd that 36-year-old Uncle, who hails from Ekiti State, had bolted, they forced the door open. Sadly, Iya Shade has since been left to nurse her wound alone.

If the foregoing reads like a fable, you wul have a rethink when you read about an incident that was reported earlier in the year in a weekly newspaper, Sunday Express. One of the screaming headlines in its Sunday April 22-28 edition read: Married man rapes under-aged (sic) in-law'.

In the report, a 15-year-old girl, Chioma Izuchukwu, was serially raped by a 47-year-old businessman, Jude Dcehi, who happened to be her aunt's husband. The sinful act happened on April 14, in Lawanson area of Lagos and it became public knowledge when the sexually victimized girl ran into the street naked!

According to the report, the sexual assault started when young Chioma's aunt travelled to the East last Christmas for the Easter celebration.

The victim, an indigene of Ekwusigo Local Government Area, Anambra State, has lost her father while her mother is blind. Consequently, she had to come to Lagos on November 8, 2011 to live with the Ikehis with the understanding that she would continue her education. But sadly, that was not to be.

"It was after I came back from the village with one of their sons to Lagos, and my aunt was still in the village during the subsidy strike. One night, he came to me and asked me if I was a virgin. I said yes and he left. In the night, I woke up to the sound or somebody removing my shirt and before I knew what was happening, I was naked and that was the first time. In the morning, he told me he was going to Ojota for the protest, and that was when I called my aunt and she told me not to tell anybody," Chioma was quoted to have said.

When her aunt returned to Lagos, she was said to have only complained subtly, and then  it became  a  closed chapter! Like the title of a Yoruba home movie, Once debe, Dcehi couldn't keep his libido in check. He beaded innocent Chima again in February.

And as usual, he allegedly threatened to kill her if she told his wife. So, Chioma silently bore the excruciating pains for several days. Although she was reported to have insisted on going back to the village, her aunf would not grant her wish, especially after giving her the 'familiar'pain killer.

Not yet sated, the dirty man did the dirty act again on a certain Sunday morning. How? "When my aunt went to church, the husband just came in and called me into the room and was sweet-talking me. I refused, but he forced me. He tore my shirt and raped me. When he was done, he left the house.

I sat where I was naked. I was so angry and was waiting for my aunt to see me naked like that. When my aunt came, her husband was with her and I started crying. I told my aunt I wanted to go back to the village because I was tired. But that was when she started shouting on me, and I shouted back. So, she and her husband started beating me, that was when I ran out naked, and the neighbours came to my rescue."

As proof that evil-minded people are truly on the prowl in the society, the Police, in September, nabbed two randy elderly men whose stock-in- trade was trapping and sexually harassing underage girls in Agbor, Delta State. But for them, it was like the end of the road, when they reportedly fell into the ambush laid by one Captain Ubachukwu Solomon Agbor on August 7, while they were defiling four underage girls after drugging them inside their house on 16, Convent Street, Agbor.

In the report also published by Sunday Express on September 2, one of the rapists, 65-year-old Sunday Obazi, popularly known as old soldier, a native of Owa Ekei in Ika North East Local Government, was using his house as a 'motel' where he was sleeping with underage girls. His accomplice is a 68-year-old Micheal Utomi, a.k.a Pappy, who hails from Owa Ahzomor in Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State. The victims, according to the reports, were minor between 12 and 14 years.

During interrogation by the Police, the undisciplined men were said to have confessed, in their individual statement, that they had been having affairs with the  girls  and
giving them N200. "Four of le abused victims, students of Ogbemudian Mixed Secondary School, identified as Ngonzi Odia, Rita Osunde, Stella Tofa and Eboka Ijeoma, gave their own sides of the story and it emerged that the plot was the same for all of them: they went to the men's house to see a friend, one of the men persuaded them to have a drink of Five Alive, which unknown to them was already doped with tranquilizing drug. According to Rita Osunde, a Policeman's daughter, it was er friend that usually took them to the house during break periods in school."

Indeed, if the likes of Ikehi, Adeola, Obazi and Utomi can be   described  as  morally bankrupt, what do you say of the so-called 'men of God' who engage in this condemnable act?

Just recently, George Akinleye, a 47-year-old single pastor of a leading Pentecostal church was paraded naked for allegedly raping an eight-year-old-girl twice in Fayemi Street, Ejigbo, a Lagos suburb.

Although there were mixed reactions to the incident, the father of the victim, popularly called Baba Akeem, said, " About a month ago, we were shocked when our daughter, Elizabeth complainea of virginal pains, saying that she was sexually abused by 'Baba', the name she calls Akinleye the neighborhood pastor.

Her description of what transpired between her and Akimeye showed that she was actually raped. I confronted the man and he accepted getting close to my daughter, but he denied raping, her. I knew he was lyingM almost got the Police involved, if not for the advice from some people to allow the sleeping dog lie."

But barely a month after, Baba Akeem returned from work only for his daughter to demand for the same drag that he gave her when Baba had allegedly abused her. So, he took the daughter to the hospital for medical check, where it was confirmed that the girl had been sexually abused.

It is a fact that cases of rape, involving an adult and underage child, have been on the rise in recent times in our society. Though many are in the public domain several others are discussed hush-hush. In a chat with the Nigerian Compass on Saturday, a Sociologist, Jegede Michael, defined rape as "having the carnal knowledge of a woman, a lady or a girl without her consent. For a legal action, the victim has to seek redress because the act was done without her consent. So, it becomes an assault."

While he argued that it might be difficult to establish a case of rape between two adults because either of the parties may have grudgingly consented to the act, he said any adult who had canal knowledge of an underage child may Be suffering from psychological distortion.

Anybody who had carnal knowledge of an underage child may be suffering from psychological distortion. Anybody m his right senses will not want to sleep with an underage person. It is against the law of man and the law of God. So, anybody who indulges in this act surely has a psychological problem. Frustration is part of the causes.

The entire citizenry is frustrated. Some can not even discern or differentiate between what is right and what is wrong. The youths have become disoriented, which is as a result of the socio-economic situations of the country. Abuse of drug is another factor. Some men act under the influence of hard drugs. There is distortion of reality when drag is abused. There is the tendency for one to commit crimes; there is also the tendency towards satisfying one'slust."

Sharing the same opinion, Dr. OmaLawaore of Horeb Hospital, Ojodu, Lagos said that in the African society, emphasis is placed on the issue of rape; thereby, it is considered as a taboo. "We place a lot of importance on the issue of rape. For that reason, it is known as a taboo. There is sociological trauma on the child; andthere is also physical trauma on the child.

If you put all of that together, there are various effects. It has both long-term and short term effects.lt is more or less like a crisis in the life of such a child. It could be the turning point in the life of the child. It is necessary for the child to have a proper medical attention, proper counseling by a psychologist and proper care by her parents and people that constitute her environment. Then, in the society itself the area where the child lives must also manage the information well, so that the child does not suffer the scar forever."

When asked how a case of rape involving a minor and an adult should oe handled, he said it is most important to engage the service of a counsellor who can talk professionally to both the parents and the child who may have been traumatized. "If such a child has experienced assault, it should be the work of a counsellor. Any child that has suffered this abuse can easily be rehabilitated by counselors. The culprit that perpetrated the act must be punished in order to serve as deterrent to those who have similar intention," he added.

In his view, the child, who has been sexually abused will live with the ugly experience for a long time. According to him, such experience willbe difficult to obliterate from the child's mind.

Speaking further, she said, "The sexual part of the child is already abused. She has been flowered against her wish. This reduces the child's self- image and self-esteem. Victims of rape are traumatized for so long. Based on what has happened, they tend to develop a kind of indifference towards the opposite sex. If the victim eventually falls into adulthood, this may lead to hatred out of fear for the opposite sex in her subconscious.   When
counseling is not adequately conducted^ it affects such a child for life and it will affect even her marriage in the future."

He, therefore, advised parents to be proactive in order to curb the cases of rape among the underage children. Parents, he also advised, should be closer to their children and monitor where they go and who they associate with. The reason is that in case of rape, it will be easy to track the culprit and even take necessary steps. "But it is better to prevent it than taking punitive actions after its occurrence.

Parents should move closer to their children- they should be involved in their children's daily living; they should not hand over their children to third parties like a house help who may not be able to actually monitor these children effectively. Parents are the ones who can prevent the occurrence of rape of the underage children. It is not a matter of the law enforcement agency.

The law enforcement agency can only be involved after the crime has been committed. Taking proactive measures prevent incidents of rape among the underage children."
Also, Dr. Akin Osunpitan, a medical doctor, frowned on in the increasing wave of rape, particularly between an underage child and an adult.

Like Jedege, he first heaped the blame on the doorstep of parents. However , he was quick to assert that the economic situations of the country had, indeed, made a number of parents to fail in their responsibilities at home. "Basically, I think the laxity of parents encourages such act. At times, it is not their fault because most them have to leave for work so as to make ends meet, thereby not monitoring the children. They have limited time with the children. Most rape cases are within the family set up. It is either perpetrated by Uncles or friends.

The little time parents have with their children, they don't teach them about sex. Maybe perhaps because of our societal belief, most parents believe that a child has to reach a certain age before the issues of sex can be discussed with her. However, parents have to inculcate this idea telling female children not to allow their uncles to put them on their laps.

They should be discouraged from wearing provocative dresses or scandalous wears."
Also, Mrs. Mercy Uloko, a middle-aged woman, in an interview with the Nigerian Compass on Saturday, said underage female children should be cautious of mingling with people without the supervision of an adult. Parents, according to her, should know the kind of friends their children associate themselves with.

"It is dangerous for your relatives who are grown- ups live with you, especially where you have little children because some of them are not trustworthy; they can sexually abuse or molest your little children. I have heard of a child who was staying with her aunt. O n this fateful day, the aunt went for vigil only for her aunt's son to rape her.

I myself won't allow any of my relatives to live with me. The blame is on both the child and her parents, anyway. The child should have screamed so as to draw people's attention. However, the parents take the greater gart of the blame because of leir carelessness; they ought to get someone who would look after their child when they are away," she explained.

Interestingly, another respondent, Mr. Kolawole Adams, revealed that he trains his children sex education very early in life, so that they don't fall prey. Perhaps, as the saying goes, once Tbeaten, twice shy. He developed the habit after one of his daughters had been sexually abused by his neighbour. "I still allow my girls to mingle with the opposite sex, but this is done unaer the supervision of an adult. I can allow my relatives to live with him, but it is only the trusted ones.'

When asked who should be blamed between a seemingly uncaring parent and an innocent underage child, he said one cannot apportion blame indiscriminately. "One cannot blame anyone in particular. However, parents are to be blamed because of the little time they have for their children and the confidence reposed in some members of the family. Of course, any parent whose child has been molested sexually would be angry to the point of killing whoever must have done that.

Well, that is expected because we are all humans. I know some parents would prefer to allow the matter to die for the sake of God and for the safety of the child, while some others would prefer to press charges against the assailant. I would also like to say that the environment where a child stays can also contribute to this despicable act," he said.

The danger in a case of rape involving an underage child and an adult, according to him, is that the forceful penetration can cause a lot of damage to the child's private part. "In this situation, child's sexual organ is not ripe at the time of the occurrence. The forceful entrance into the private part of the child can cause vasco-virginal fistula. There could be a tear from the virginal to the rectum.

When the victim wants to urinate, the urine starts coming out from the private part of the victim. Psychologically, the victim can be frightened and fear of the unknown may set in; the victim may have phobia for life. The victim may not enjoy sex as it is supposed to "be in the future and there could also be infections. Now that we have cases of HIV, there are so many sexually transmitted diseases. So, it could have a long-lasting effect."

Like Osunpitan, the Medical Director of Horeb stated further that the victim must be made to undergo a comprehensive medical attention. "Of course, it depends on the kind of disease the assailant has in his system. Though she is underage, he could still transmit a disease to her.

There is need for that child to be properly investigated to be sure that the child does not contract HIV. Then, the physical effect bothers on the relationship between the child and the society; the way the child sees an adult and the way the child relates to her parents. There are more challenges treating an underage child because there is likelihood of a traumatic destruction of the underage child's body and sexual organ," he said.

Although he said the first point of call in a case of rape is the Police, he lamented that many tend to shun such moves "because of the attendant shame and the fear of dragging the name of the family into disrepute. According to him, 'There is nothing oad in it. The perpetrator has to be punished so as to serve as deterrent to others. Then, the victim can be taken to the hospital, preferably a government-owned hospital if the family really wants to establish a case.

Some laboratory tests can be carried out on the victim."
In the thinking of some people, a supposed clergy would not engage in such condemnable act, except he intends to carry out some ritual purpose. Speaking with the Nigerian Compass on Saturday, Pastor Omanudhowo Nicholas of the Disciples of Christ Mission International, Ogba, Lagos, said, "I don't subscribe to the fact that clergymen who involve in sucn a dirty act are truly men of God.

He is supposed to be a shining example in the society. It is abnormal for anyone to do that, except the person has a sinister motive. If he is caught in such an act, he wilr definitely lose God's favour and his congregation. A clergyman is supposed to be disciplined as a disciple of God. Don't forget, the word disciple was coined from the word 'discipline'. A rapist must be faced the music."

Spiritually, he maintained that anyone caught in that act should be left m the court of God for judgment. The reason, according to him, is thaf'God Has his own way of dealing with sinners," he concluded.