Another victim, twenty-seven-year-old Joy (surname withheld) has also said she was raped twice by Bamekpa. She could not hold back tears as she narrated how Bamekpa allegedly raped her on two occasions when she was only aged between six and seven years.
Describing Bamekpa as a serial rapist, Joy said her ugly encounter with him had been documented in form of a book. She said she was in primary school when the suspect forcibly had canal knowledge of her, and she had lived her life wishing that Bamekpa would be brought to book.
Narrating her experience, she said: “He is a rapist. I had some encounters with him when I was between six and seven years old. I wrote a book about that. He has spoilt many children. He tricked me into his house and did it two consecutive times.
“I used to go to their place to play. He came out one day and collected the money we were using to play and went into his room. I followed him to collect the money back. When I entered the room, he just closed the door, locked it and held me. When I wanted to shout, he used one of his hands to block my mouth and used the other one to start fingering me. So, there was no way for me to shout until he had finished what he was doing.
“As a child, I couldn’t even disclose it to my parents. He warned me not to disclose it to anyone. I was ashamed. Another day again, we were there playing and he deceived me into his room again. He slept with me. I couldn’t also disclose it to my parents.”
Joy, however, said her parents discovered that offensive smell was oozing out of her body and demanded to know what happened to her. She said her parents forced her to disclose her experience with the man to them.
She said: “My mum discovered that an offensive odour was oozing out of me. I started stinking. They forced me to tell them what happened to me. I opened up and said there was a guy who did something to me in his room. When my mum opened my body, the whole place was messed up. There was already a sore in my private part. They called the guy, his parents and everybody to talk about it. He denied it. I couldn’t talk. I simply said he was the person.
“My dad promised to arrest him but his parents begged and promised to take care of me. My dad was really annoyed. If he had the money, he would have gone to any length to seek justice but the money was not there.
“His dad had some money. My mum took care of me. His parents came only on that day. After that day, everything was abandoned. There was enmity between both families because of that.”
She added: “I was feeling the pains within me. So, when I started growing up, I felt bad about it. I felt even worse when I heard about the other children he was raping and spoiling.
“Even at this age, he boldly came to me and said we should start where we stopped. Can you imagine that? I didn’t know what to say to him.
“I always weep when I recall the incidents. He should be locked up in jail. I am ready to go to court and testify against him. He should be punished. I don’t want any mercy.
“You can imagine that he slept with his daughter. The girl is in serious pains. I was told that he has been boasting that he would regain his freedom.”
Rights group petitions police
In a petition to the Commissioner of Police, Egbe asked the police to transfer the case from Kolo Police Station to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and order the arrest of all the culprits, including the lady that aided the entire process. She further called for police protection for the victim.
The letter was copied to the Governor of Bayelsa State, his wife, the Director, Department of State Security (DSS), the Attorney-General of the state and the state House of Assembly.
Egbe vowed that OPER, including the organisation’s Board of Trustees Chairman, Prof. Sunny Bassey, would pursue the case to a logical conclusion.
She said: “We started fighting for the rights of children because we know that children are very important to the society. Without children, there is no future for any family or state.
“We call on everybody to stop all forms of violence against the girl-child. A father who is supposed to protect his daughter is the one that afflicted her with violence. This is not the first time we are having this.
“We are tired and our hearts are aching. If you are doing it, please stop it, because if you don’t, the full wrath of the law will come upon you. Those of you who call yourselves doctors and are involved in aborting pregnancies, especially with minors, the end has come for you.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Butswat Asinim, confirmed that the suspect was arrested by the police over an allegation that he defiled a minor of about 12 years old.
He said the suspect was being held at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the police command, adding that investigation was ongoing.