Patience Dike (not real name) was 12 years old when she moved in with her sister and her husband in their one-room apartment at Ebutte-Metta, Lagos State in January 2008. For over one year she lived with them, her sister’s husband, Philip Ugbuaja, routinely abused her sexually.
Recounting her experience, Miss Dike said her brother-in-law took away her dignity and self-worth. She said she lost count of the number of times she was abused by him. In June 2009, at the age of 13, she became pregnant for him.
“When he started he was always telling me that if I talk he will kill me. He did it so many times that I cannot remember how many times,” Miss Dike, a primary six pupil, said.
“But it was one day when I was vomiting that my sister found out I was pregnant. I then told her it is her husband who was responsible,”
The victim alleged that Jane Ugbuaja, in connivance with her husband, gave her sister, who was already two weeks pregnant, some pills in an attempt to abort the child. The pills led to her bleeding and Mrs Ugbuaja then called a neighbour, Toyin Ayodele, who was a nurse, to come to her aid.
“She (Mrs Ugbuaja) called me to come that her sister is bleeding. She was bleeding so much and had serious stomach pains. Her sister then told me she was pregnant and I discovered that part of the pregnancy had been removed. I had to do an evacuation of the retained product so as to save her life,” said Miss Ayodele, an auxiliary nurse.
After the abortion, Miss Dike’s life changed for the worse. Her sister started maltreating her while her husband continued to sexually molest her. Unable to bear the violence, she ran away on the 23rd of October 2009, when a Good Samaritan, she named Augustina, saw her in a shed.
She narrated her ordeal to her and out of pity Augustina housed her and subsequently took her to a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Project Alert, which deals with violence against females.
“When she was brought, she narrated all she had been through. One thing we discovered is that she was consistent with her story. We see it as a case against the state so we decided to take the case to the police for onward prosecution. We want justice for the girl because too many cases like hers go unprosecuted,” said Kate Ibeanusi, the Human Right Education project officer for the NGO.
When Mr and Mrs Ugbuaja were asked the reason for their actions, they became hostile. Mr Ugbuaja denied ever defiling his 13-year-old sister-in-law, instead claiming he was being framed by her.
Commenting, the Lagos State Police spokesman, Frank Mba, said evidence show the suspects committed the crime and tried to keep it to themselves. He said the police intend to prosecute to act as a deterrent to others.
“This is an extreme case of abuse. Even after the abortion, he (Mr Ugbuaja) continued to abuse the girl. It shows he is excessively and compulsively addicted to the habit. This is also an advice to wives to monitor that their husbands are not going beyond their briefs,” Mr Mba said.
Meanwhile, Mrs Ibeanusi said in view of creating awareness against the increasing number of violence against women and children, Project Alert will be organising a protest match in December 2009.
“This has become an issue that we need to bring to public awareness. There is an increase of rape cases of children between the ages of 5 and 14. This goes on because nobody is willing to take up the fight. We see this everyday and enough is enough,” Mrs Ibeanusi said.
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