VICTOR AYENI writes in regards to the dehumanising therapy confronted by victims of rape and their relations, the frustration they endure when denied justice, and the deep-seated ache of seeing culprits let loose by the police roam freely with out thorough investigation
As Mr Samuel Olajide sat within the dimly lit front room of his home in Egbeda, Lagos State, he was engulfed in a combination of rage and sorrow.
Clenching his palms into fists, he recounted the traumatising ordeal of his 17-year-old daughter (title withheld) to our correspondent.
“A suspect broke into our home, sexually assaulted my daughter and stole N180,000,” he stated with indignation.
Part of Olajide’s gesticulations depicted a father pained by his failure to guard his daughter from the prying eyes of kid intercourse predators.
The father of three felt he may have averted the incident that stole his daughter’s chastity however on July 11, 2023, destiny had different plans.
“My spouse and I had been at work when the unhappy incident befell my daughter. She was studying the Bible when all of the sudden, she heard some footsteps. She pulled the curtains however didn’t see anybody. Later, she went to the room, undressed to take her bathtub, however started listening to unusual sounds from the kitchen.
“As my daughter went to the kitchen to check, a guy dashed out from the dark, and as she quickly made to lock the door from the inside, the intruder forced the kitchen door open, dragged her into the living room, and landed heavy blows on her head. When I got home and knocked at the gate, no one responded.”
Olajide, who additionally runs a farm in his compound stated ultimately when he discovered his method into the lounge, he was horrified to see his daughter mendacity unconscious on the ground with a damaged dish and a jar of damaged hair cream mendacity beside her.
He stated, “My daughter was mendacity bare on the ground. Her garments had been torn and dipped inside her mouth, and her face was lined with mucus. I checked for her pulse and noticed that it was nonetheless beating, so I rapidly referred to as a health care provider buddy and he instructed me on what to do.
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“After being revived, she described her attacker as a tall, slim, fair-complexioned younger man with a mark on his hand, and darkish spots and pimples on his face. She added that he wore a inexperienced prime and a pair of denims.
“The case was reported to the Isheri Police Division and my daughter was taken to the Sexual Assault Centre at Igando General Hospital for proper care and treatment.”
According to the daddy of three, the descriptions of the attacker given by his daughter and one other resident matched that of a younger man within the space recognized as Osunyomi (surname withheld).
Osunyomi’s live-in buddy (title withheld) disclosed that on the morning of July 11, his companion all of the sudden returned residence, claiming he had modified his thoughts about going to work.
Authorities believed that he broke into Olajide’s home on that very same day and on July 18, the police arrested Osunyomi at his office.
According to the 17-year-old sufferer, the shirt he wore on the day of his arrest was the identical one he wore when he broke into their residence and sexually violated her.
“The case was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, and all the evidence gathered, handed over to an investigative police officer identified simply as Femi at the Anti-Trafficking Unit,” Olajide revealed.
Suspect launched
Speaking additional with Saturday PUNCH, the distraught father stated after he paid N25,000 for the suspect’s fingerprint and footprint to be taken into document and the case registered with the police, the IPO instructed him to rearrange a automobile for them to go to the crime scene, which he did.
He stated, “After being compelled to pay N15,000 for a automobile of their selection, they didn’t flip up. Rather, they went to the suspect’s office and spent hours there earlier than coming to my home. After three weeks, I didn’t hear from them. Then on Monday, September 18, I went there with a lawyer.
“When one of many policemen on the workplace, Supol Kazeem, noticed me, he embarrassed and despatched me away. It was after I reported to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, SCID, Panti that the policeman then took my lawyer to his workplace for a gathering.
“When my lawyer returned, he disclosed that Kazeem had released the suspect because he believed they were lying against the suspect. He also told my lawyer that the report showed the suspect didn’t touch my daughter. It was at that point that I called the Commissioner of Police, the Ministry of Justice and the NBA at the time, to intervene and get justice for my daughter.”
Olajide stated he’s extra pained that the suspect now strikes freely within the space, a improvement which nonetheless traumatises his daughter so far.
He stated, “I am so angry and sad right now,” Olajide blurted. “My daughter is dejected and I’m disillusioned within the police. The suspect was freed and the case has gone chilly since September.
“I used to be the one who carried out a lot of the investigation and came upon that the suspect and his buddy, Femi, had been criminals and even their landlord confirmed this. Their home is near mine; the suspect entered my compound utilizing the fence on the again and he admitted that he had been monitoring us and knew when my spouse and I went to work that Tuesday.
“Now, this guy even threatens me openly, saying there is nothing we can do to him anymore. There are days I feel like taking laws into my hands. What kind of a system is this? My life and that of my daughter is still not safe because this man still walks freely out there.”
Meanwhile, in October 2023, the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, Mrs Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, when contacted by our correspondent, urged the household to report the case to the company and the Gender Desk Department of the state police command.
“They can visit our office located at Nobel House, Plot 3, Otunba Jobi Fele Way, Central Business District, to ensure the victim can access holistic support and services,” she wrote in a textual content message despatched to our correspondent.
When contacted for an replace on the case, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, didn’t reply the decision made to his cellular quantity and didn’t reply to a textual content message despatched to him.
Raped in police station
In one other improvement on June 29, a 17-year-old secondary faculty scholar was allegedly raped by an Assistant Superintendent of Police recognized merely as Owolabi on the Ogudu Police Station in Ojota, Lagos.
The senior officer had reportedly promised to assist the sufferer observe and retrieve her telephone stolen at gunpoint about two weeks earlier.
Narrating how the incident occurred, {the teenager} stated, “On that Saturday when he asked me to come to Ogudu Police Division where he works, saying policemen had arrested the suspect who stole my phone, my mother was in the market and I didn’t even know the station, I had to ask for directions to the place.”
Our correspondent learnt that when the woman confirmed up on the police station, the suspect invited her into his workplace, locked the door, and allegedly raped her.
“After raping me in his workplace, he eliminated my footwear and made me sit on the ground. I started to remorse coming to the station and even trying to retrieve my telephone within the first place. He harshly instructed me to get out of his sight.
“He told me, ‘Did you see that everyone here calls me the boss and obeys me? You can’t do anything.’ When I walked out of the police station, he still followed me outside and warned me that if I said a word to anyone, he would deal with me,” {the teenager} instructed our correspondent in tears.
In an emotion-laden tone, her mom, Aramide Olupona, instructed our correspondent that her daughter started to bleed after the rape and was rushed to hospital for therapy.
She stated, “On the night of that Saturday, she started complaining of abdomen ache, however by Sunday she started to bleed. We went to 2 hospitals however they couldn’t attend to us as a result of their medical doctors had been both busy or weren’t accessible.
“We went to Gbaja Hospital, the place we had been attended to and from there we went to the Mirabel Centre on the Lagos State Teaching Hospital for medical assessments and assortment of proof. All her medical studies are there.
“Owolabi lives on the Iponri Police Barrack and my store is beside his home, so he typically comes to take a seat at my store. I by no means anticipated that he would do such a factor to my daughter or that he had been watching her. She’s not wayward or an outgoing woman.
“After the incident, his numbers were switched off and the Area Commander told me his whereabouts were unknown. Even when the Lagos State Domestic Violence Agency tried to reach him, his number was unreachable. We wrote petitions but there was no response,” Olupona acknowledged.
After the story was printed on July 13, many social media customers expressed outrage on the case and the allegation that the police had tried to cowl up the crime.
The following day, Hundeyin issued an announcement noting that the officer had turned himself in and had been arrested.
“The command assures the public that there is no attempt at a cover-up as such hideous acts are at variance with the code of conduct and professional ethics of the Nigeria Police Force,” Hundeyin acknowledged.
Questionable silence on take a look at outcomes
Olupona instructed our correspondent {that a} DNA pattern was taken from the accused policeman and likewise from her daughter as a part of necessities for medical assessments and so they had been instructed the consequence could be prepared inside 48 hours.
Later that week, Hundeyin disclosed utilizing his verified deal with on X.com, “A medical examination has been performed on the 17-year-old woman. The consequence remains to be being awaited.
“If the results cannot prove anything, it would be difficult to secure a conviction in court. The same procedure would be followed if you were the accused.”
The following week, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade, additionally stated the command was awaiting the medical report of the take a look at, including that the accused policeman has been issued a question and is at present below detention.
But for the sufferer’s mom, the awaited medical consequence was starting to appear like a conspiracy of silence.
She stated, “They hold saying they’re ready for the medical consequence, however I used to be personally instructed at Mirabel Centre, the place the take a look at was performed that its consequence could be prepared in 48 hours. Look on the calendar, we are actually in one other month. Why has the suspect not been charged in court docket?
“So far, there was no communication with us or indication of the place the case is headed. Let me inform you one thing, they need to bury this case and they’re being complicit in silence.
“If they are not, they should charge the suspect in court. My daughter has not been herself anymore. The police should fear God and do what is right. We want justice. This evil should not be covered up.”
Defilement case stalled
In May, a Lagos-based mom, Rita Ebirim, in an interview with Saturday PUNCH, accused her brother-in-law of defiling her five-year-old daughter.
She defined that her estranged husband had filed for divorce on August 2, 2022, and whereas ready for the trial, she was ordered by the court docket to permit the daddy to have entry to their daughter.
The mom stated the brother-in-law allegedly defiled her daughter throughout her second go to to her father.
She stated, “Sometime in February final 12 months, he got here to select her up for the primary time within the morning and returned her within the night. That day, I sensed one thing was unsuitable with my woman and I voiced my suspicion to my lawyer however he waved it off.
“The subsequent time, he got here to take her to go to him and she or he returned to me at night time past the speculated time. Later, after I wished to wash her, she began crying, pushed my palms away and stated I shouldn’t contact her ‘there’.
“When I asked her who touched her there, she told me her uncle. When I called her father, he said he (the uncle) didn’t do anything to her and instructed me to take the girl to the hospital knowing full well that it was late at night. After she was examined at two hospitals, the doctors said she had bruises on her private parts, because she had been sexually molested.”
Our correspondent gathered that the case was reported on the Ketu Police Station and the LSDVA.
“Although the suspect was arrested, he was later released on bail, and up till now, we are still awaiting a hearing in court. The case has needlessly dragged on and it feels like justice is elusive,” Ebirim added.
When contacted concerning the case, Vivour-Adeniyi, disclosed {that a} forensic interview had been performed for the kid and that the case had been referred to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
Speaking with our correspondent on Tuesday, Mrs Ebirim defined, “I nonetheless spoke with Vivour-Adeniyi this morning in regards to the case. I needed to get one other lawyer and we’ve written to the Attorney-General, however we nonetheless haven’t heard something from them.
“I can see that the case has additional energy on it. The DPP is able to work however she needs to unravel who precisely is the individual that is stalling this case.
“Nothing has been done on the matter yet but we still keep pushing. I feel traumatised because my little girl has been through so much and I am ready to go to any length to get justice for her.”
Frightening statistics
In May, the National Bureau of Statistics report titled, ‘Statistical Report on Women and Men in Nigeria 2022,’ revealed that the proportion of females who expertise rape elevated yearly.
“In 2020, 29.00 per cent of females had been victims of rape, which elevated considerably in 2021 and 2022 to 48.00 per cent and 65.00 per cent respectively.
“Meanwhile, across the states, FCT had the highest in 2020 with 10.00 per cent, and Benue State recorded the highest incidence of rape for females in both 2021 and 2022 with 15.00 per cent and 12.00 per cent respectively,” part of the report acknowledged.
Also, knowledge obtained by The PUNCH Newspaper indicated that Lagos State has skilled a stunning surge in sexual and gender-based violence over the previous 5 years.
The doc confirmed that reported instances rose steadily, from 3,446 in 2019 to six,389 in 2023.
In July 2023, the Lagos State Police Command stated it recorded 111 sexual assault instances between April and June 2023.
Hundeyin additionally famous that the command was involved in regards to the rising variety of sexual assault instances within the state, including that inside the identical interval, 14 rape instances and 56 instances of home violence had been recorded, whereas 99 suspects had been charged in court docket.
“About 83 cases were currently under investigation, which shows the command’s commitment to prosecuting any domestic and gender-based violence in Lagos State,” Hundeyin stated.
Similarly, the Women at Risk International Foundation, in collaboration with the United States Consulate General, Lagos, revealed that 33 per cent of girls and women aged between 15 and 49 have skilled bodily and or sexual abuse of their lifetime.
‘Justice delayed by corruption’
However, a lawyer and social commentator, Liborous Oshoma, in an interview with Saturday PUNCH, highlighted the unfavourable affect of corruption, stigmatisation, spiritual beliefs and lack of coaching within the felony justice system of the nation.
He stated, “The first downside is the inherent corruption within the Nigerian felony justice system and you can see out that the victims of sexual defilement or assault, who don’t have the monetary capability don’t often get justice for themselves.
“Due to corruption within the system, you’ll have police compromising instances and once they take ‘compensation money’ from suspects, it makes it tough for victims to get justice as a result of the tendency for investigations to cowl up the crimes may be very excessive.
“The profitable instances are those the place civil society teams, non-governmental organisations, girls’s rights teams and the media wade in.
Another motive is stigmatisation. There are sure methods rape victims are interrogated by the police, which makes them really feel re-violated and within the corrupt society we stay in, there’s a method girls’s our bodies are objectified.
“Many times, the suspects know that their reputation is at stake so they either negotiate with the victim or utilise political means. Then, religion also plays a role. When a sexual assault case happens in a religious setting, you will hear people saying ‘Don’t bring down a man of God,’ or they resort to this idea that you should leave it for God to judge.”
Oshoma added that there was a necessity for policemen to be skilled and re-trained to make sure that perpetrators of sexual assault should not allowed to go freely.
“I like what the government has done in setting up a department cut out for these cases, but that department can only report to the police and the bureaucracy involved in having to go to the Ministry of Justice adds to the cogs that delay justice, and this weighs down the mind of the survivors,” he stated.
‘Victims need support’
Speaking with The PUNCH, the co-founder and Director of Action Health Incorporated, Dr Uwemedimo Esiet, stated rape victims want psychosocial assist to heal and get their life again.
He added that public establishments within the nation must be audited to know their degree of compliance and understanding of what constitutes sexual abuse and practices.
Esiet stated, “The very first thing is {that a} sufferer must be examined by means of medical and psychosocial administration. Psychosocial administration is a lifetime engagement. People have been raped after which ended up committing suicide. This is as a result of they felt nugatory because of the traumatic expertise.
“Some have needed to change colleges, and stopped faculty, whereas some have developed psychological sicknesses on a long-term foundation. So you possibly can’t have a one-size-fits-all technique. We ought to cope with every case because the scenario calls for.
“It can take some people two to three years to heal, while for some, it could be for a lifetime. This is why we have always emphasised that beyond medical treatment, there should be psychosocial support.”
LASG reacts
Speaking on the most important elements that contribute to delays within the felony justice course of in sexual assault instances, Vivour-Adeniyi stated they’re brought on by societal and institutional obstacles.
She stated, “On the societal degree, survivors and their households typically face intense stress from revered figures of their communities to withdraw their instances. In many elements of society, sexual assault is considered as a ‘private affair’ that must be resolved inside the household slightly than by means of the authorized system.
“This societal stress to withdraw instances is compounded by a deeply flawed notion of sexual assault survivors, typically resulting in the sufferer being blamed for the perpetrator’s actions, forgetting {that a} crime has been dedicated towards the state.
“There are also instances where survivors or their parents are even threatened by community leaders to drop the case, and failure to comply could result in the community becoming hostile toward the family. Fortunately, the narrative is changing in Lagos State, through various programmes DSVA actively engages with communities. The agency is raising awareness about Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and educating them on their responsibilities as mandated reporters.”
She additional listed institutional challenges that embody insufficient investigation by regulation enforcement businesses as elements, including that efficient investigation was essential as a result of felony instances weren’t gained in court docket however on the investigation stage.
Vivour-Adeniyi added, “Recognising this, the state has through the years, strengthened its partnership with the Lagos State Police Command, making certain that skilled personnel are stationed in designated police stations, often known as Family Support Units.
“However, there are nonetheless cases the place the Directorate of Public Prosecutions points a ‘Non-Prosecution’ authorized recommendation resulting from inadequate proof, inconsistencies, or ambiguities, which is dominated in favour of the suspect.
“This reflects the legal principle that states that ‘it’s better that 10 guilty persons escape than for one innocent person to be wrongfully punished’. Further compounding these issues are the inadequate resources, logistics, and underfunding of critical stakeholders.”