At almost 90, he could be the great grandfather of the 13-year-old girl. But he first defiled her when she was eight months old. When she clocked 13, he raped her again. Irked by the octogenarian’s audacity, the girl’s father is crying out for justice. Gboyega Alaka reports.
WAS in our room stitching my bra, when Baba called me to help him fetch water. I got up, went to collect the bucket and made to proceed on the errand, when he called me back into his room; I thought he was going to say something else pertaining the errand, but suddenly, he took something from the back of a chair, poured it in his mouth and started commanding me. He told me to pull off my clothes, my pant and then he pushed me on the bed and forced himself on top of me. I tried to scream, but nobody heard me. It was around 10 o’clock and the whole house was quiet. Even my brothers with whom I was washing had gone out….”
That was the story of a 13-year-old girl, who was allegedly defiled by an 80-something year-old grand-father in their tenement house on Amosun Street, Badore, along Igando-Iyana-Iba Road on the outskirt of Lagos, as told by her father, Mr. Olalekan.
The father, who is inconsolable, has insisted that he wants justice meted out to the perpetrator, Mr Omobolaji Ayoade, whom he says, is notorious for such acts and other fetish stuff in the compound. His determination, he says, stems from the fact that this would not be the first time he would be violating the same girl, alleging that he once fingered her, when she was just an eight-month-old baby, causing her to bleed from her private part back then.
Mr. Olalekan said this particular incident happened at about 10am on Monday. “Her two elder brothers said they came back from where they had gone to charge their phone and suddenly realised she was nowhere to be found. I wasn’t at home, but they said they started calling her name and couldn’t fathom where she could have disappeared to within such a short space of time. One of the brothers said as he stood at the entrance of the bungalow apartment, calling her name and hoping she would appear, they heard faint cry of die die (gently gently) but did not know where the sound was coming from nor fathom whose voice it was.
“My son said it was after she had been standing there for about fifteen minutes, that he saw her come out of the old man’s room, her eyes red. When she asked what she was doing in Baba’s room and why her eyes were red, she said nothing.
“Meanwhile, when she refused to answer, the brother said he went to confront the old man to ask what he did to his sister, but said the old man simply ignored him. And that is another very bad habit the old man also has. No matter the issue and however hot or raging, he would not say anything or even come out to show any kind of concern. By this time of course, the neighbours had gathered and wondering why such an elderly man could be involved in such a dastardly act. This is the same man that had been accused of several fetish activities and sexual harassment in the compound.
Olalekan said it took the mother’s threat to get the story from her daughter. “Probably because of the charm he used to hypnotise my daughter, she refused to say what the man had done to her until her mother arrived and threatened to deal with her.
“In my daughter’s account, she said she screamed when he was about to force himself on her but help did not come. Besides, she said he had locked the door, a jam key, hence there was no way she could free herself. Even when he mounted her, she said she kept crying but the old man did not release her until he finished the evil act.” Olalekan said.
In the course of the outrage, he said the old man’s lover, who works in Radio Lagos, arrived and was briefed. Another neighbour, wife of the landlord’s brother, also arrived. It was she who went to confront him, since he simply ignored all our questions and shut himself up in his room. She told him he couldn’t just keep quiet and ignore everyone in spite of such grave accusations. She also threatened to involve her son, who is a policeman. I was told he confessed to her at that point that he indeed assaulted the girl and pleaded for forgiveness, saying it was a mistake. I also learnt that he had earlier confessed to his woman friend.
Violated at 8 months
Clearly agonised, Olalekan said, “It was this same old man who assaulted this same girl by fingering her when she was a mere eight-month-old. As usual for babies, she had crawled into his room then, but when she crawled out, the mother noticed that her private part was dripping. She initially thought she had poo-pooed, as is usual with babies and made to wash her. It was then that she noticed that she was actually bleeding from her vagina, an indication that her private part had been tampered with. The whole neighbourhood was stunned; but after much plea that we should not expose the little child to unnecessary negative publicity and stigma, we agreed to let it pass. Besides, he was warned that if such a thing happened again, we would have no option but to take the matter to the police. So now that this has happened again, I sincerely do not wish to let it pass or have it swept under the carpet.
Luckily, the doctor who examined her at that time told us that her hymen was not broken and that she would heal and everything would get back to normal. In fact, that was the main reason I agreed to forget the matter,” Mr. Olalekan said.
At a loss
Olalekan said he however didn’t take any concrete action until Thursday, mainly because he didn’t know how to go about it. Yet, he said the matter worried him gravely. “The matter would not leave my mind. It was like a festering sore on my mind, and I could not sleep at all. In fact, I didn’t realise how much harm the matter was doing to me until I asked my sister, a nurse, to check my blood pressure and found that it was alarmingly high. When my boss – I work as a private driver for my boss and his wife – saw how the issue was bothering me, he told me to go and take care of it. The person they first introduced me to in our area said they only handle human rights and divorce. She told me this is a totally criminal case and directed me to Alausa, Child Protection Unit, Ministry of Youth and Social Development. There I tabled my case and they advised me to report at a police station nearest my house. They also advised me to go to a hospital, so she could be examined and evidence documented, since it was now Thursday, three days after.
Dad alleges police cover-up
“Fortunately, one of my neighbours, a woman, whom he had been harassing with sexual demands knew some officers at the Igando Police Station and offered to go with me. There we laid our complaints and we were handed over to a police officer. But unfortunately, the officer started making funny demands and giving me conditions. He said I should bring five thousand naira if I wanted them to handle the case at their station. This was in spite of the fact that I told them that I had been directed to them from Alausa. He also said I would fuel the vehicle and that I would buy him lunch.
“I was a bit taken aback when the police said my daughter only said the old man only fingered her in her statement. As far as I’m concerned, that must have been out of fear or an aftermath of the spell he cast on her, because she already confessed to the mother. Even when the man’s lover called her to swear that the man indeed had sex with her, my daughter swore with the bible. Besides, when her mother examined her that afternoon, she said she saw whitish substance in her private part and the whole place was ruptured.
“The police also said the old man denied all the allegations – whether sex or fingering. But the doctor that examined her at the Mirabel Centre, LASUTH, Ikeja, where I was directed to, said she had been recently penetrated and that her clitoris was sore, an evident of forceful penetration.
“What I however find most annoying is the fact that the police seem to be handling the matter lightly because she said it is fingering. Isn’t fingering a crime, even if that was all that transpired? Is it a small crime under the law to sexually violate or defile a little girl by whatever means? I want the governor to step in and help me. That is why I went to Alausa. This is not a small matter to me. I may not have money but justice should not be served only to the wealthy.”
Olalekan is also irked by the information he got that it was a police woman at the same Igando Police Station, who bailed the old man. He said this has given him so much confidence to now go about saying nothing can happen. He said he has also been flaunting the fact that he was not put in a cell on the only night he slept there.
We’ll take the case to court when we get the medical report – Police
The police officer in charge of the case, who gave his name as Yusuf, however denied all allegations of cover-up or conspiracy, insisting that he can only prepare and take the case to court when he gets the medical report from The Mirabel Centre, which he had not got as at the time of speaking (Thursday last week). He said Olalekan should get them to bring the report to the police station, so he can proceed with the case.
“As we speak, we have three different versions of the incident. The little girl said the man only fingered her; the man himself said he did not touch her at all, while the parents are insisting that there was real sexual penetration act. If I were to prepare a case for the court now, I can only present the girl’s statement. That is why I am waiting for the medical report.” Officer Yusuf said.
As for the allegation that Ayoade (the old man) could have bribed the police, Yusuf looked up sharply and said: “Have you seen the man? Does he look like someone who has money to offer?”
Yusuf also denied that he was bailed by a police officer, saying he was bailed by his relation, a man.
About the demand for money, he said all he told Olalekan was that he would have to provide mobilisation whenever he has to take the matter to court, asking almost rhetorically, “Is it my money that I will be using to take the accused to court?”
We are ready to testify against him – neighbours
When this reporter visited the home of the Olalekans on Amosun Street, deep inside Badore in Igando, the suspect, Omobolaji Ayoade, was not at home. His door was locked, but two of the neighbours were on ground to tell their versions. The first, who incidentally is a relation of Ayoade, Mrs Otolorinwa Oladejo, said she wasn’t exactly at home when the incident happened. She had gone to the other side of town across the expressway. “On getting back, the girl’s mother rushed to call me to come and listen to what happened. She then told me the whole story. Omobolaji (Ayoade) may be my brother, but what he did to the little girl is not good. He first started with the girl, when he violated her with his fingers, when she was a mere eight-month-old. He’s so perverted and has been involved in all sorts of fetish acts in the house. Three days after the rape case, he also poured blood everywhere. Just yesterday, he poured some liquid stuff that looked like oil mixed with water everywhere. Only God knows his motive.”
Another neighbour, Nkemakolam Stephen, said she wasn’t at home but made time to go with the girl’s father to the station because she couldn’t bear to see the girl and her parents suffer such ignominy without any recourse. “That man is an extremely wicked and heartless man. Five months after I moved in here, he poured charm on the floor for me. Often, when I am bathing, he would come near the bathroom and start peeping. When I spread my undies on the cloth line, he will go there and start sniffing at them. Even when I am with my partner, who only visits from time to time, he will come to my window and start peeping. But if I can let all that pass, I cannot let this wicked act of defilement on the innocent girl go unpunished.”
He penetrated me with his manhood – girl
When this reporter met the little girl briefly, her account was indeed moving. She said, “He took something from behind the chair and poured in his mouth and started commanding me to remove my clothes. He then pushed me on the bed and forcefully put his manhood in my private part.”
When asked why she gave a different version at the police Station, the little girl could not utter a word. At this point, her mother also said this could be an aftermath of the charm the old man used on her. “Even as we speak, my daughter still shivers whenever she sees him,.”she said.
We can compel the police to take case to court – Child Protection Unit
When this reporter visited the Child Protection Unit of the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social development, Alausa, Ikeja, the officers on duty, who pleaded anonymity admitted to receiving the case, but said they were the ones who directed her to make a report at the Police Station in Igando. They said they will only take further actions, which include compelling the police to take the case to court, if they are foot-dragging or suspect any kind of conspiracy or cover-up attempt.
Brickwall at the Mirabel Centre
Before visiting the Child Protection Unit, this reporter had however paid a visit to The Mirabel Centre. The intention was to follow up on their effort and at least be sure that they were on top of the case, but the officials were virtually hostile and would not confirm or decline that they had received any case concerning the girl in question.
All attempts to explain to the officials on ground that this reporter’s mission was not to scuttle the case or pry fell on deaf ears.
“If you like go to Itoro (the agency’s Executive Director) or go to the Perm Sec, we will not tell you anything. We do not know the girl you’re talking about and will not tell you anything. Mirabel has treated over 2,000 cases, so we do not know the particular case you’re talking about.”
