The girl, Chidinma,18, was found in Lagos after a frantic four months search by her anxious parents.
She was three months pregnant by the time detectives from Festac Police Station, picked her at Diamond bank, Festac, Amuwo- Odofin, where she went to cash some money.
The man who impregnated her is 21-year-old Idris Umar. Umar is an aspiring musician, but presently a hairstylist. Chidinma was picked up by police on February 12, 2016.
The police said that Umar may be charged with abduction and rape. She said she would have gone back home, but she was waiting for her dad, who offended and made her to run away from home, to call her.
The dad never did. It was only her mom who bothered to call and often sends her money. According to Chidinma, she said to Umar that she was 21. She added: “He asked me my age. I didn’t want to tell him my real age.
If I tell him my real age, he would see me as a little girl. I told him I was 21.” Chidinma, who showed no remorse in running away from home or being pregnant said: “I ran away from home out of frustration. I ran away from home last year. I was 17. I was in Senior Secondary Class (SS2). I don’t know why the police arrested Idris.
He hadn’t done anything wrong. He didn’t rape me. I gave myself to him. I knew what I was doing. He didn’t force or took advantage of me. In fact, he assisted me.” Umar, who appeared unperturbed by whatever the police have in store for him, said: “I love Chidinma and I don’t want to look elsewhere. She’s my first love and lover.
I love her.” Umar said he was ready to marry Chidinma comes rain or hail. His words: “Yes, I’m ready for marriage. I’m soon going into the music industry; I don’t want women to start chasing and disturbing me after I have made it in music.
That’s why I want to marry early. If I get into music now, everyone will love me. I wouldn’t know which one has genuine love for me. So, I need to marry now. And Chidinma is my first love.” Asked if he was responsible for her pregnancy, he smiled and said: “Yes, I can’t deny her. I’ll marry her.”
Recalling the genesis of her leaving home, Chidinma said they were at the dining table, eating, when one of her sisters started quarreling with her. She recounted: “I’m the second among five kids.
My younger sister said I should get up that she wanted to sit where I was sitting, I didn’t answer her. She went to sit in another seat. She started insulting me. I had water in my mouth; I spat the water on her. She took hot tea and poured it in my ear. I became angry. I took hot water from the flask and poured her. “My father came out. He didn’t ask what happened.
He ordered me to kneel down. I tried to explain, but he refused to listen. He went into the room, came out with a mop and used the stick part to start hitting me. I told them that I would leave the house.
He said I should go, after all there was nothing they were doing with me. “That wasn’t the first time I had threatened to leave the house. Whenever I threatened them, they would ask me to go.
They would say I’m not useful to them. That night, I packed my bag and left the house. I took bus and went to Lagos, from Enugu.” Although she had an aunt in Lagos, she didn’t think of the woman until she got to Lagos. She had just been paid N50,000 for a concert she made. It was from the money she paid for her fare to Lagos and lodging in a hotel at MazaMaza.
She briefly romanced with the idea of locating her aunt, but dropped the idea. She didn’t have the woman’s home or phone contact. She said: “We landed in Lagos around 10pm. The bus stopped us at Mazaza, which was the last bus stop. I had N50,000 with me. I did concert for a company and they paid me. I lodged in a hotel.
The next day, I started looking for clues, to know if I could locate where my aunt stays. I stayed in that hotel for a week and two days.” It was within that one week and two days that she met Umar. She met him in saloon where she used to go for nail fixing. They chatted, became friends and soon fell in love. A few days after, Chidinma moved into Umar’s apartment.
They became lovers. Umar said he didn’t think of asking Chidinma the whereabouts of her parents or whom she was living with because, “anytime I brought up the matter, she would shut me up.
She didn’t want to talk about herself or family. I allowed her to be because I didn’t want to hurt her.” Chidinma explained: “I didn’t tell Idris my story of how I ran away from home. I didn’t want him to know. I lied to him that I didn’t have anywhere to stay. He said I could stay with him. One day, he read my email messages. He saw messages from my mom.
When he saw the messages, he started asking questions. By then my mom had already started calling, begging me to return home. “I could have gone back home, but my dad, who hit me with the mop stick, didn’t even call.
That was why I refused to go back home. He didn’t even call to ask how I was. He didn’t care. I stiffened my heart. I refused to go home.
I started planning to get a job in Lagos.” Chidinma Asked if she used to have sex with Umar, she said: “Yes, I used to sleep with Idris, but not always. When I discovered I was pregnant, I told Idris.
He said I shouldn’t worry, that he wasn’t going to deny the pregnancy.” The lovers began to plan marriage in earnest. Umar said he needed to save some money, in order to follow Chidinma to see her parents for proper introductions and preparation for the marriage rites. To further assure Chidinma that he was serious about marrying her, he took her to Kogi State, to meet his family.
Chidinma said: “He wanted to speak with my mum, but I refused him. I told him that I would handle that aspect. Moreover, my mum has High Blood Pressure(BP). I didn’t want her to worry.” Chidinma’s mom had been calling always to check on her daughter. She also sends money. On February 11, 2016, the woman sent N10, 000, to Chidinma.
The girl immediately dashed to Diamond bank to cash the money via Automated Teller Machine(ATM). When she got to the ATM gallery, the machine didn’t disperse. It however dispersed for others. She thought something was wrong and walked into the bank to speak with customer care. Detectives swooped on her. “They took me to Festac Police Station.
The police gave me phone to call my mom. My mom didn’t send any money. She tricked me. She wanted me to go to the bank, so that police would arrest me. They asked me who I was staying me; in order not to create more trouble for myself, I mentioned Idris.”
According to her, she lived with Idris for five months. It was within those months she discovered she was three months pregnant. She said: “I’m in love with Idris. Love is a strong feeling that binds people together.
I have strong feelings for Idris. He didn’t treat me bad. He took me to his house, fed and bought clothes for me. I don’t see my sleeping with him as paying him. I’m ready to marry him. I don’t think my parents will say no to our marriage.
To me, Idris didn’t do anything wrong. If he was using me, he wouldn’t have taken me to his family. He’s not my first lover. I knew what I was doing when I accepted his advances.” Umar said: “I asked her where she lives, she said around Festac. I thought she was staying with her uncle. Whenever I pressed her, she would tell me to leave the matter alone. She told me she was 21.
“We started living together in November. In December, I saw a message in her email; I realized she was having issues with her mom. She now told me everything. I was the one that told her to start picking her mom’s call.
I got to know she was pregnant. I said I would take her to her parents and introduce myself. We agreed to raise money, so that we could go to her parents. I could have called her mom, but I didn’t want to hurt her. She wouldn’t like it if I called her mum.”
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