Thirty-six-year-old Sola Adebisi was sobbing
when she spoke with PUNCH on Thursday.
She wasn’t sobbing because of the sexual
attack on her eight-year-old daughter, Lola
(not real name), who was defiled by a
security guard but because she and her
daughter are now being victimised by the
police for reporting the case.
“One of the policemen even said to my
face ‘Like daughter like mother.’ Are they
implying my daughter deserved to be sexually
assaulted?” she said.
According to the single mother of two, who
sells food at Benson Junction, Ikorodu, Lagos,
it all began on Monday, January 26, 2015
when she sent her daughter on an errand
around the area where she vends food.
She told Saturday PUNCH:
“Usually, at the close of work, I keep the
containers I use to sell food behind a house at
the bus stop where I sell food. Sometimes I
send my daughter or her younger brother to
take the containers there.
But on that Monday, I was busy with
something and sent my daughter around
7.30pm tovkeep the containers there. But I realised
she took longer than usual.
“I went to look for her at the house later
and Mr. Benjamin (the security guard,
popularly called Baba Ijebu in the area) told
me that she had left a while ago. I saw the
containers there.”
Adebisi said it was when she turned to leave
that she noticed her daughter coming out of a
corner of the house. The mother demanded to
know where her daughter had been but the
girl could not give a satisfactory answer.
“I kept asking her and all she could tell me
was that she did not get back on time
becauseBaba Ijebu refused to open the gate
on time. I knew she was lying and even
threatened to beat her up,” she said.
The girl later told her mother about two
instances of sexual assaults by the same
man, who had warned her against telling her
mother what he did.
“She told me that Baba Ijebu dragged her
into a corner of the house and dipped his
fingers in her private part. She said that day
was the second time such thing would
happen.”
But when Adebisi confronted the man, he
apologised saying he only had a sexual
encounter with the girl once. The mother later
reported the case at the Ikorodu Police
Division, where policemen were drafted to
arrest Benjamin.
The police gave Adebisi a note to the hospital
to carry out a test on her daughter, which she
took to the Mirable Centre at the Lagos State
University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
Adebisi said the case has been drawn out
under different excuses by the police till they
finally released Benjamin.
“Now, when Benjamin sees my daughter, he
winks and laughs at her. She always tells me
when that happens. The police have told me
to forget about the issue and settle with the
man. When I remained adamant, they started
abusing me, blaming me for what happened.
One of the policemen in charge of the case
even blamed me for letting him waste money
he should have paid me as settlement on
getting a lawyer.”
Adebisi accused the police of treating her
daughter’s case light because she is poor.
Adebisi explained that even though the report
of the test carried out on her daughter was
sent directly by LASUTH staff to protect the
integrity of the report, the police had been
blaming her for disobedience.
“They said I might have forged the test
report because I went to LASUTH even though
I was directed to the Ikorodu General
Hospital. But I told them that I went to the
teaching hospital because sexual assault test
is free there,” she said.
Child Rights Activist, Mrs. Esther Ogwu, who
now handles the case, lamented the recurrent
cases of sexual assaults in which families of
victims complain about being treated unfairly
by the police.
She said:
“The attitude of our policemen to cases of
sexual assault is worrisome. This is a case
police authorities need to act fast on because
it does not speak well of their integrity.
“We have reported the matter at the
Human Rights Commission Office in Lagos and
just want to get justice for this family. The
woman is just a roadside food vendor, she
went took her daughter to a hospital where
tests will be carried out on her free of charge.
Are we to blame her because of that?
“But families should also understand that
sexual predators are always around the corner
and should do everything to protect their
children.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr.
Kenneth Nwosu, told PUNCH that after the
case was brought to his attention, Benjamin
had been rearrested. He said:
“We condemn such acts and cannot
condone it in any way. You have to
understand that the case was reported three
days after it happened. There are certain
procedures the police have to follow.
“The mother of the victim was directed to
take the girl for a test at the Ikorodu General
Hospital, but she was said to have gone to a
private hospital instead.
“But even at that, our concern is to ensure
that the victim is protected and the suspect
punished if found guilty by the court.
“As I speak, the case file and the suspect
are being taken to the Department of Criminal
Investigation, Yaba for further investigation.
The mother of the victim should not entertain
any fear.”
when she spoke with PUNCH on Thursday.
She wasn’t sobbing because of the sexual
attack on her eight-year-old daughter, Lola
(not real name), who was defiled by a
security guard but because she and her
daughter are now being victimised by the
police for reporting the case.
“One of the policemen even said to my
face ‘Like daughter like mother.’ Are they
implying my daughter deserved to be sexually
assaulted?” she said.
According to the single mother of two, who
sells food at Benson Junction, Ikorodu, Lagos,
it all began on Monday, January 26, 2015
when she sent her daughter on an errand
around the area where she vends food.
She told Saturday PUNCH:
“Usually, at the close of work, I keep the
containers I use to sell food behind a house at
the bus stop where I sell food. Sometimes I
send my daughter or her younger brother to
take the containers there.
But on that Monday, I was busy with
something and sent my daughter around
7.30pm tovkeep the containers there. But I realised
she took longer than usual.
“I went to look for her at the house later
and Mr. Benjamin (the security guard,
popularly called Baba Ijebu in the area) told
me that she had left a while ago. I saw the
containers there.”
Adebisi said it was when she turned to leave
that she noticed her daughter coming out of a
corner of the house. The mother demanded to
know where her daughter had been but the
girl could not give a satisfactory answer.
“I kept asking her and all she could tell me
was that she did not get back on time
becauseBaba Ijebu refused to open the gate
on time. I knew she was lying and even
threatened to beat her up,” she said.
The girl later told her mother about two
instances of sexual assaults by the same
man, who had warned her against telling her
mother what he did.
“She told me that Baba Ijebu dragged her
into a corner of the house and dipped his
fingers in her private part. She said that day
was the second time such thing would
happen.”
But when Adebisi confronted the man, he
apologised saying he only had a sexual
encounter with the girl once. The mother later
reported the case at the Ikorodu Police
Division, where policemen were drafted to
arrest Benjamin.
The police gave Adebisi a note to the hospital
to carry out a test on her daughter, which she
took to the Mirable Centre at the Lagos State
University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
Adebisi said the case has been drawn out
under different excuses by the police till they
finally released Benjamin.
“Now, when Benjamin sees my daughter, he
winks and laughs at her. She always tells me
when that happens. The police have told me
to forget about the issue and settle with the
man. When I remained adamant, they started
abusing me, blaming me for what happened.
One of the policemen in charge of the case
even blamed me for letting him waste money
he should have paid me as settlement on
getting a lawyer.”
Adebisi accused the police of treating her
daughter’s case light because she is poor.
Adebisi explained that even though the report
of the test carried out on her daughter was
sent directly by LASUTH staff to protect the
integrity of the report, the police had been
blaming her for disobedience.
“They said I might have forged the test
report because I went to LASUTH even though
I was directed to the Ikorodu General
Hospital. But I told them that I went to the
teaching hospital because sexual assault test
is free there,” she said.
Child Rights Activist, Mrs. Esther Ogwu, who
now handles the case, lamented the recurrent
cases of sexual assaults in which families of
victims complain about being treated unfairly
by the police.
She said:
“The attitude of our policemen to cases of
sexual assault is worrisome. This is a case
police authorities need to act fast on because
it does not speak well of their integrity.
“We have reported the matter at the
Human Rights Commission Office in Lagos and
just want to get justice for this family. The
woman is just a roadside food vendor, she
went took her daughter to a hospital where
tests will be carried out on her free of charge.
Are we to blame her because of that?
“But families should also understand that
sexual predators are always around the corner
and should do everything to protect their
children.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr.
Kenneth Nwosu, told PUNCH that after the
case was brought to his attention, Benjamin
had been rearrested. He said:
“We condemn such acts and cannot
condone it in any way. You have to
understand that the case was reported three
days after it happened. There are certain
procedures the police have to follow.
“The mother of the victim was directed to
take the girl for a test at the Ikorodu General
Hospital, but she was said to have gone to a
private hospital instead.
“But even at that, our concern is to ensure
that the victim is protected and the suspect
punished if found guilty by the court.
“As I speak, the case file and the suspect
are being taken to the Department of Criminal
Investigation, Yaba for further investigation.
The mother of the victim should not entertain
any fear.”
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