The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Mirabel Centre

  • Togolese sleeps with underage girls for N50

    The police have arrested a Togolese, Dominic Samson, 31, for allegedly sleeping with underage girls.

    He was said to have given them N50 each after the exercise.

    Samson was arrested last Monday around 8:50am by Ejigbo Police Station Divisional Police Officer Olabisi Okufowobi, a Chief Superintendent (CSP) following a complaint by the father of one his victims, a 15-year-old girl.

    According to a statement issued on Monday by Police spokesman, Chike Oti, a CSP, Samson was caught sleeping with the 15-year-old girl by neighbours at their 28 Olusesan Street, Ejigbo home.

    The neighbours informed the girl’s father, who had gone out to his place of work.

    The man reported the matter to Ejigbo Police Station

    Oti said: “Based on his complaint, the DPO, a female officer, interrogated the victim and she confirmed the report. She confirmed that the suspect did not only defile her but sodomised her by having anal sexual intercourse with her. She further revealed that she was not the only victim of the suspect’s indecent sexual behaviour . She named five other victims who are within 13 to 15 years age bracket.

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    “All the victim’s except the sixth had been identified, interrogated and their statements recorded. The girls said the suspect sometimes bring all of them together in one room for an orgy and thereafter give them a cash reward of N50 each.”

    According to him, the victims had been taken to the Mirabel Centre where the doctor’s report confirmed that the victims were indeed defiled as alleged.

    The Commissioner of Police (CP) Imohimi Edgal, Oti said, urged parents to be mindful of their children as that is the only panacea to the rising cases of sexual exploitation and abuse of children.

  • Doctor indicts two siblings of defrauding, raping undergraduate

    A medical doctor, Dr Alagbe Oyedeji, on Tuesday gave evidence indicting the two siblings — Bright Nwachukwu and Chijindu Nwachukwu — who are standing trial for raping and defrauding an undergraduate of the University of Lagos ( Unilag ).

    Newsmen reports that the brothers — Bright, 32, and Chijindu , 24 — are facing three-count charge bordering on obtaining under false pretenses and rape at an Ikeja High Court.

    They allegedly committed the offences when they accosted the 21-year-old undergraduate (name withheld)on Feb. 12, 2016 on her way to the University for her medical clearance.

    Oyedeji, a self-proclaimed atheist, while being led in evidence by Mrs C. K Tunji-Carrena, the lead prosecution counsel, told the court that he worked at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital ( LASUTH ).

    “I work at the Department of Family Medicine and also as a consultant /examiner to Mirabel Centre.

    “My job entails examination, treatment and writing of reports or examination findings on victim of sexual assault.”

    The doctor told the court he was testifying on behalf of his colleague, who had initially conducted the medical examination but was no longer in the employ of LASUTH.

    READ ALSO: Man charged with alleged rape, impersonation

    ““I have a report from the Mirabel Centre dated Feb. 13, 2016 from a colleague of mine, Dr Sholaja,  who is no longer in the workforce of LASUTH, he has relocated outside Lagos.

    “Being an examiner and a colleague experienced in the day-to-day activities of the Mirabel Center, I’m here to interpret the examination findings,” he said.

    Giving details of the examination report, the doctor said:“The examination findings started from when the client entered into the examination room.

    “She was found to be quiet, willing to give information and she was alert as well as well-oriented about time and place.

    “The gross physical findings indicate that there are no significant injuries to her physical structure.

    “Significant findings on her genitalia indicate injuries, there was a focus of injury to the entrance of the urethra.

    “The hymen had injuries called lacerations and the posterior forcet had superficial lacerations.

    “The doctor came to the conclusion that this examination’s findings which are highlighted are consistent with the client’s claim that she had forceful penetration into her vagina.

    “The force in this case which she described happened to be the penis,” the doctor said.

    While being cross-examined by Mr Oganihu Nwosu, the defence counsel, the doctor admitted that the complainant never mentioned the names of the defendants as the alleged perpetrators of the rape.

    He also noted that the examination had also revealed that the complainant had a genital infection prior to the rape.

    “Part of the report said that there was a copious discharge on the client’s genitalia.

    “Analysis was not done on the discharge and it was observed that the client had a staphylococcus infection,” Oyedeji said.

    The complainant, a undergraduate from the Department of Biology Education, had on July 4, 2017 testified about how the siblings defrauded and raped her.

    According to her, she was accosted by Bright on her way to school and was “hypnotized” and as a result, followed him to a house located at No. 4, Odusanya St., Ijaiye-Ojokoro, Lagos, where she was raped by him.

    The UNILAG undergraduate alleged that in her hypnotic state she gave the men her ATM pin and N19,000 was fraudulently withdrawn from her account.

    She was allegedly further instructed by the duo to go home and steal cash and valuables belonging to her mother and bring to them.

    The plan was foiled when her mother noticed her daughter’s strange behaviour and called their pastor and also alerted the police.

    The offences contravened Sections 258, 312(3) and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.

    Justice Josephine Oyefeso adjourned the case until Feb. 19 for continuation of trial.

    NAN

  • We only had more reported cases in 2015 – Itoro Eze-Anaba

    We only had more reported cases in 2015 – Itoro Eze-Anaba

    Founder of Lagos-based Mirabel Centre, Itoro Eze-Anaba says the year 2015 may not be guilty as charged; arguing that the high rate recorded in the year may be because more people are coming out to report cases.

    With stories of rape and paedophilia gracing our headlines virtually every day in the out-gone year 2015, it might seem like the year went down as having the highest number of cases in recent time; can you give us any statistics?

    It is difficult to say that rape cases or incidences of paedophilia are on the rise, because that would mean that we have statistics or data of years gone by. What I may be able to say however is that more cases are now being reported, recorded and documented. We don’t have a data of say five years ago for instance, to be able to draw that conclusion. However, when we started the Mirabel Centre two and half years ago, we used to record between 20 to 30 cases per month; but now we record an average of 50 cases in a month. In October, we had 79 cases, while in November, it was over 60 cases. So, we’re getting consistently over 50 cases per month in recent months.

    Are these figures of cases that you record at the Mirabel Centre or they include those from the police?

    Over 90 per cent of the cases we get at Mirabel Centre are referred to us by the police. We have a cordial relationship with them.

    Incidences of fathers molesting their kindergartens and minors hit us in the face every day and astound the sane amongst us, what do you think is responsible for this negative development?

    I do not know; but I know that there are several factors that may lead to such behaviour. Rape is not about sex; it is about power. When you have power over a person, you want to use it. If you look at it, majority of the rapists have sexual partners, so it’s not because they are starved of sex. Unfortunately, most of the perpetrators of sex are people in positions of trust, so there is this silence, almost akin to a conspiracy. And because people keep quiet, they continue.

    The so-called men of God – be it in the Christian divide or the Muslim divide are featuring prominently in this crime as well; why is this?

    Like I said, it is about power. Someone is coming to you for help and looking up to you for advancement, there is a tendency for you to see them as being vulnerable. So they take advantage of members of their congregations, especially the younger and more vulnerable ones.

    What can be done to curb the trend, especially since it is getting to the level of epidemic?

    It is an epidemic and until we recognise it as such, it will not stop. No country has been able to stop rape outrightly, but it is on the rise here because people are not taking the matter seriously. It is happening in our communities, in our homes and until we come together to fight it…. We have pastors and imams involved in it; in some cases, they are even interceding and begging for these perpetrators because of their positions in the society; and the police are also busy negotiating and helping them to settle out of court. Until we realise that it is horrific to the victim and come together to fight it to a stand-still, people will never stop in our society.

  • Lagos releases rape, child abuse, domestic violence helplines

    Lagos releases rape, child abuse, domestic violence helplines

    Hundreds of men and women marched on Alausa, the Lagos State seat of power to protest against rising incidence of rape and child abuse, on Tuesday.

    Titled: “A walk to create awareness on rape in Lagos State,” the protesters gathered under the bridge near Ikeja bus stop, from where they marched to the office of the state Deputy Governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire.

    The event was organised by a civil society group, Partnership for Justice with the support of the Justice for All (J4A) project of the Department for International Development (DFID) as part of the United Nation’s 16 days of activism on violence against women.

    They collaborated with the Lagos State Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Response Team, Lagos State Gender Advocacy Team, Lagos Ministry of Justice, Lagos Office of the Public Defender, Ministry of Youth, Sport and Social Development and Ministry of Health, among others.

    The event was also in celebration of the first anniversary of the Mirabel Centre, located within the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), where rape victims receive free treatment and counseling.

    They bore placards, some of which read: “Rape is real, speak out now!” “Be the change. Help stop rape!” “A house where a woman is not safe is not a home.” “Make violence unacceptable in your life!” “Don’t wait to be a victim. Stop rape now!”

    They sang: “If you rape, you will rot in jail. Alausa – No rape! I was just playing with her – No rape!”

    The deputy governor, represented by her special adviser, Mrs. Risikat Akiode, announced dedicated helplines for child abuse (08085753932, 08102678442) and domestic violence (08057542266, 08102678443).

    She said the state would not tolerate any report of child abuse or domestic violence, while urging victims or anyone threatened to call the helplimes without delay.

    “Once the case is brought to our attention, we deal with it immediately. The lines are functioning,” she said.

    The Executive Director, Partnership for Justice, Mrs. Itoro Eze-Anaba, said no fewer than 450 victims of rape have been at the Mirabel Centre for treatment since it was set up a year ago.

    Among the victims, she said, were a 70-year-old woman, and 18-month-old child and a 14-year-old boy.