Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Girl 13, attempts suicide after defilement by engineer

…Bursar drugs 15 yrs. old, impregnates her
Juliana Francis

An installation engineer, Festus (41), has been arrested for allegedly sexually violating three girls of the same secondary school.


The suspect was arrested by operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP).

Femi, who is married with children, lives in Bwari Area Council of Abuja. His wife and children live in Ondo State. He was arrested by men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and thereafter referred to NAPTIP for further investigations and prosecution.

The Head, Press and Public Relations Unit, NAPTIP, Stella Nezan, said: “The first victim, a 13-year-old Junior Secondary (II) pupil in one of the secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory, lives with her parents in Bwari. The victim stated that she met Festus through her classmate, who asked her in school to escort her to Festus’ house, claiming he was her uncle. On getting to the house, her classmate and Festus went out briefly, and on their return, she told the victim that Festus wanted to have sex with her. The victim’s refusal and pleas of being a virgin fell on deaf ears. Festus turned the volume of the sound system very high and raped her in the presence of her friend. He further threatened to kill her if she tells anyone. This left the victim so distraught that she attempted suicide.
“The second victim is a 12-year-old Junior Secondary (II) pupil who lives with her Aunt in Bwari. The same classmate took her to Festus’ house and told her that Festus wanted to have sex with her. On her refusal, Festus gave them money and told them to visit some other time. One fateful day, she was on her way to her classmate’s house, when she met Festus on the way. He invited her to his house and raped her while she was waiting for her friend.
“The third Victim, a 15-year-old girl is the same person that introduced the other two victims to him. She stated that Festus was her former neighbour, and that each time he had sex with her, he gave her N500. He also told her to bring girls for him, promising to give her N3000. She stated that so far, she has brought five girls to Festus, ranging from 12 to 15 years. She further corroborated the first victim’s story on the rape and threat to life.”

Nezan said that in another case, Luke Gabriel Ekundayo (51), a bursar with Government secondary School Dangara, Abaji- Abuja, was also arrested by NAPTIP officials for allegedly drugging, raping and impregnating a 15-year-old student.
Ekundayo was the victim’s guardian in school, and she spent short holidays in his house.

“The victim, a senior secondary three (SS3) student took ill in Ekundayo’s house, and upon taking some drugs administered to her by him, she passed out. On waking up, she saw bloodstains and said felt uneasy. She, however, didn’t suspect that the school Bursar, whom her grandmother handed her over to, for protection, could do anything sinister to her. The victim, an orphan who was on scholarship, was threatened by the suspect into having sex with him continuously, or he would tell her sponsors to stop paying her school fees. The rape continued until the victim got pregnant.”

The Director-General of NAPTIP, Dame Julie Okah-Donli, condemned the actions of the two men. She said that the action was in line with the name-and-shame policy of the Agency.

She stated, “Rapists will be prosecuted for their crime against humanity and NAPTIP will not hesitate to bring the full wrath of the law on any rapist.”

She further frowned at the high rate of rape in the society, and cautioned schoolgirls to be careful of the kind of friends they keep, warning that a lot of teenagers were being led astray by fellow teenagers, who are victims of the crime themselves.

The DG also admonished parents to “be careful of who they entrust their children with as it is unfortunate that the people who are meant to protect the children are the ones who end up exploiting and abusing them.”

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