•’I didn’t rape her’
A 15-year-old girl, who is now in the family way, has accused her uncle, Femi Kolajolu, of raping her.
But, she claims not to know whether the pregnancy is its uncle’s or its boyfriend’s.
The girl, a Junior Secondary School III pupil in a Lagos public school, alleged that her uncle has been sexually abusing her since 2013.
She said: “The first time the incident happened, I was sleeping with my boyfriend. My uncle entered my room; sent my boyfriend out and raped me. The second time, I was sleeping in my room with my younger sister. He opened the gate, covered my mouth and slept with me. Then, my mum was admitted in a hospital because she was ill.”
She claimed that the last time he forcefully slept with her was early last year before she discovered that she was expecting a baby.
“Last June, I realised I had missed my period for the previous month but I didn’t know what caused it. It was after my mum took me to the hospital we were told I was three-month pregnant. I don’t know who is responsible; if it is my boyfriend or my uncle.
“I intend to sit for my Junior School Certificate Examination (JSCE) next month. Since my father died last year, my uncle took everything he gave us. My mum was left with nothing to cater for the six of us,” she added.
Her mother, Mrs Yinka Kolajolu, said her daughter never told her what her uncle was doing to her, adding that she got to know after her husband’s death.
Mrs Kolajolu said when her daughter told her what she had been going through, she discharged herself and moved out of the house with her children.
“It was when we moved to our new place I realised that my daughter hasn’t seen her period and when I asked her, she said it seized that she didn’t know. Although when we moved to the neighbourhood she has been mingling with some boys so I thought one of them was responsible for the pregnancy. It was later she told me how my husband’s brother started sleeping with her. She said he threatened to injure her if she told anyone.
“When I told him she is pregnant, he asked who was responsible and I said I didn’t know. He said he was okay with whatever I did. The reason I left my husband’s house was because his brother said he was going to kill me just the way he killed my husband. When I didn’t know what to do, I went to meet his wife who also told me her husband tried to rape their first daughter.
“We reported the matter to a mediation centre but he didn’t show up. We were now referred to Lagos State Domestic Violence and Sexual Response Team (DVSRT).”
She added: “She is my step daughter she has been with me since she was one-year-old after her mother’s death. I am her mother. We are scared of my husband’s brother. I pray our matter is handled well because we don’t want to suffer.”
Kolajolu’s wife, Ndidi, said she wasn’t surprised to hear what her husband did because he almost raped their first child last November.
She said she and their five children were asleep when he sneaked in, adding:”He came around 3am, removed our 14-year-old daughter’s underwear and touched her breast. It was when my daughter screamed I woke up. We usually don’t put off our light to sleep but at that moment, it was off. We all ran to the sitting room to see who came in. As our last child bent, she saw legs behind the curtain. When we removed the curtain, I saw my naked husband standing.
“My daughter cried to the extent of raining curses on her father. When I told him I was going to report to the police station, he said it won’t take him five minutes to kill me. Last December, he said myself and the children shouldn’t visit him again that he has another woman who has given him a son. Since last December, I am just seeing my husband today (yesterday). Even after he was summoned at the mediation centre, he didn’t respond. “
Kolajolu, a businessman, who has been detained at the Festac Police Station, denied raping the girl, adding that he does not know anything about the pregnancy.
“Even if my wife and I are at loggerheads, this isn’t the right way to solve it. I have never entered their room. Why will I sleep with my niece or my own daughter? Is it not shameful,” he said.
DVSRT Coordinator Mrs Titilola Vivour- Adeniyi hailed the affected parties for speaking out, adding: “They are now in a position to receive the support government has made available for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. We have also requested for the duplication of the case file to be forwarded to the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP).”
