Police Blame Me For My Daughter’s Rape, Protect Rapist – Mother Of Rape Victim

Thirty-six-year-old Sola Adebisi was sobbing when she
spoke with our correspondent on Thursday.
She wasn’t sobbing because of the sexual attack on her
eight-year-old daughter, Lola (not real name), who was
defiled by a security guard but because she and her
daughter are now being victimised by the police for
reporting the case.
“One of the policemen even said to my face ‘Like daughter
like mother.’ Are they implying my daughter deserved to
be sexually assaulted?” she said.
According to the single mother of two, who sells food at
Benson Junction, Ikorodu, Lagos, it all began on Monday,
January 26, 2015 when she sent her daughter on an
errand around the area where she vends food.
She told Saturday PUNCH, “Usually, at the close of work, I
keep the containers I use to sell food behind a house at the
bus stop where I sell food. Sometimes I send my daughter
or her younger brother to take the containers there.
“But on that Monday, I was busy with something and sent
my daughter around 7.30pm to keep the containers there.
But I realised she took longer than usual.
“I went to look for her at the house later and Mr.
Benjamin (the security guard, popularly called Baba Ijebu
in the area) told me that she had left a while ago. I saw the
containers there.”
Adebisi said it was when she turned to leave that she
noticed her daughter coming out of a corner of the house.
The mother demanded to know where her daughter had
been but the girl could not give a satisfactory answer.
“I kept asking her and all she could tell me was that she
did not get back on time becauseBaba Ijebu refused to
open the gate on time. I knew she was lying and even
threatened to beat her up,” she said.
The girl later told her mother about two instances of sexual
assaults by the same man, who had warned her against
telling her mother what he did.
“She told me that Baba Ijebu dragged her into a corner of
the house and dipped his fingers in her private part. She
said that day was the second time such thing would
happen.”
But when Adebisi confronted the man, he apologised
saying he only had a sexual encounter with the girl once.
The mother later reported the case at the Ikorodu Police
Division, where policemen were drafted to arrest
Benjamin.
The police gave Adebisi a note to the hospital to carry out
a test on her daughter, which she took to the Mirable
Centre at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital,
Ikeja.
Adebisi said the case has been drawn out under different
excuses by the police till they finally released Benjamin.
“Now, when Benjamin sees my daughter, he winks and
laughs at her. She always tells me when that happens. The
police have told me to forget about the issue and settle
with the man. When I remained adamant, they started
abusing me, blaming me for what happened. One of the
policemen in charge of the case even blamed me for letting
him waste money he should have paid me as settlement on
getting a lawyer.”
Adebisi accused the police of treating her daughter’s case
light because she is poor.

Adebisi explained that even though the report of the test
carried out on her daughter was sent directly by LASUTH
staff to protect the integrity of the report, the police had
been blaming her for disobedience.

“They said I might have forged the test report because I
went to LASUTH even though I was directed to the Ikorodu
General Hospital. But I told them that I went to the
teaching hospital because sexual assault test is free there,”
she said.

Child Rights Activist, Mrs. Esther Ogwu, who now handles
the case, lamented the recurrent cases of sexual assaults in
which families of victims complain about being treated
unfairly by the police.

She said, “The attitude of our policemen to cases of sexual
assault is worrisome. This is a case police authorities need
to act fast on because it does not speak well of their
integrity.

“We have reported the matter at the Human Rights
Commission Office in Lagos and just want to get justice for
this family. The woman is just a roadside food vendor, she
went took her daughter to a hospital where tests will be
carried out on her free of charge. Are we to blame her
because of that?
“But families should also understand that sexual predators
are always around the corner and should do everything to
protect their children.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Kenneth Nwosu,
told our correspondent that after the case was brought to
his attention, Benjamin had been rearrested.

He said, “We condemn such acts and cannot condone it in
any way. You have to understand that the case was
reported three days after it happened. There are certain
procedures the police have to follow.

“The mother of the victim was directed to take the girl for
a test at the Ikorodu General Hospital, but she was said to
have gone to a private hospital instead.

“But even at that, our concern is to ensure that the victim
is protected and the suspect punished if found guilty by
the court.

“As I speak, the case file and the suspect are being taken
to the Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba for
further investigation. The mother of the victim should not
entertain any fear.”
Source: PunchNg