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Violence against women in Nigeria now starts from the cradle as some girls are forced into early marriage, turn to sex slaves or raped by paedophiles
| By Olu Ojewale | Apr 4, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT |
IT is tough enough to be a female child in Nigeria. It is even harder when, as a female child, you have predators as parents, neighbours, customers or even teachers. If you are in doubt, chances are that you have not been reading the newspapers or you are not in tune with media reports.
In the past few months the Nigerian media have been awash with various reports of violations of Nigerian female children from different quarters. The one that really stole the headline has been that of Ese Oruru, a 14-year-old girl who was allegedly kidnapped and taken to Kano State, to be converted to Islam and married off to her abductor. Oruru had been with abductors since August 2015 before her rescue in February this year after she became five months pregnant. The matter has since been charged to court.
At a federal high court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on Monday, March 21, Yunusa Dahiru, who is standing trial on a five-count charge of criminal abduction and sexual exploitation of Oruru, a minor, was granted bail in the sum of N3 million and two sureties in like sum to Dahiru. Justice H. Nganjiwa, trial judge, while ruling on the bail application, ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody until the bail conditions were fulfilled and adjourned the case to April 19, for hearing on the motion for secret trial filed by Kenneth Dike, prosecuting counsel.
According to the bail conditions reeled out by the court, the defence counsel must undertake that the accused person would be in court for trial, while one of the sureties must be a renowned title holder in the community and the other a public servant from level 12 and above. Both sureties must be resident in Bayelsa State and must submit their three years tax clearance certificates, while the public servant must also submit letter of first appointment and last promotion. Reacting to the bail conditions, Kayode Olaosebekan, defence lead counsel, said they were grateful to the court for the ruling.
While the case of Oruru and Dahiru was still causing an uproar, reports indicated that that there were other Orurus still in the camps of their abductors. One of such cases that made it immediately to the consciousness of the country was that of Patience Paul.
Paul, a 15-year-old schoolgirl, was reportedly abducted in Sokoto State also in August, 2015. Narrating her ordeal at the hands of her abductor, the teenager said that was forcefully abducted and converted to Islam. Besides, she alleged that she was held in captivity and sexually abused for seven months at the residence of Sarkin Baki, meaning king of strangers.
The Benue-born student had gone missing on August 12, 2015, but help came her way after Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State, ordered an investigation into the matter, a directive which later led to her release.
According to a newspaper report, Paul claimed that her abductor and some Hisbah or Sharia police personnel took her to an imam in Runjin Sambo area of Sokoto, claiming that she wished to convert to Islam. Although she was forced into marriage, the primary six pupil claimed that her abductor turned her into a sex slave at the house of the Sarkin Baki. She said: “Yes, he was forcefully making love to me any time he wanted. They first took me to Sarkin Baki house, and kept me there for seven months before my parents came looking for me. They gave me something to drink, but I refused to take the drink, and they took me to one room and locked me inside the room.
“They forcefully made me to turn to Muslim and gave me another name, Aisha. Some people wanted to marry me, but the Sarkin Baki refused and said until I finish Islamic school before they marry me off.”
Ezekiel Dyagas, a lawyer with a Plateau-based NGO, who helped with the rescue of Patience, addressed a press conference in Kaduna, explaining that he was briefed about her case on March 1, 2016, by her brother. Dyagas said: “Her brother, who is here with me, has been up and doing since the family realised that the little girl was missing and eventually abducted by one of her neighbours.
“I promised the family to give me 48 hours and we would be able to trace her whereabouts. I posted her story on the website and you will not believe the response I got. Within that 48 hours I was talking to the Sokoto State governor, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, and I told the girl’s brother that the governor will call him.
“In fact, the governor not only called, but he played a vital role towards the freeing of Patience. He acted as a father and we appreciate his role. In short, he was instrumental to her eventual release. “As I am talking to you, those behind her abduction in Sokoto had been arrested and are going to face prosecution soon.”
Encouraged by the outcome of Oruru and Paul’s cases, Ndubuisi Nichodemus, father of Ifeoma Nichodemus, now Aisha, cried out recently saying that his 15-year-old daughter had been abducted, converted and married off without his consent. Ifeoma was living with her parents, in the midst of the Hausa community in Zaria, Kaduna State, until May, 2014 when she left the house in protest against the authority of her moth¬er to question her for returning late to the house on the day. That was the last day her parents would set their eyes on her.
It was later learnt that Ifeoma had been converted to Islam and married off to Abdullahi. All efforts to get her back have been frustrated by as the Sharia court handling the case has not reached a decision.
While the case of Nichodemus was unravelling, many other cases have surfaced to show that there are many Orurus, Pauls and Nichodemus in our midst.
But the assaults on Nigerian female children are not limited to abductions and forced marriages. For instance, following the uproar that attended the allegation that Olaseni Oshifala, a biology teacher, sexually molested a Junior School two, JSII, at the Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos, the federal government on Tuesday, March 22, constituted a five-man panel to probe the allegation. The panel members were not named.
A statement by Bem Goong, deputy director of press, federal ministry of Education, said the government was disturbed by the claim Oshifala sexually molested a pupil in the school. The girl’s identity was not disclosed. The panel was given two weeks to do its job.
Chinenye Okoye, mother of the alleged victim’s claim on a blog, Olorisupergal.com, that her daughter was sexually harassed by her teacher, outraged the public, which is demanding an investigation into the matter.
The setting up of the panel came just as the Queens’ College Old Girls’ Association, QCOGA, declared that the allegations against Oshifala were “not unfounded.” In fact, a statement by Laila St. Matthew-Daniel, chairperson of the QCOGA fact finding committee, alleged that Oshifala had been harassing pupils of the school since 2005, adding that he was reported but never punished. The association also sent a petition to Lagos State Commissioner of Police, seeking an investigation of the case. Apparently in acknowledgment, Fatai Owoseni, state commissioner of Police, said the command was investigating the matter. Owoseni spoke when Paul David Masiya, commander, Nigeria Air Force Ikeja Base, visited him.
He said: “The very senior police officers who can be best described as the backbone of the command’s intelligence base are on the case. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Administration, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, including the Officer in Charge of Public Complaints Bureau are involved in the case.”
Indeed, Oshifala was picked up by the Police on Wednesday, March 23. Informed sources said he passed the night at the Lagos Police Command Headquarters in Ikeja, where he was being interrogated.
As the Biology teacher of the Queen’s College, Lagos, was being taken in for Police interrogation, another teacher in Edo State was given four years imprisonment sentence for sexually molesting a 13-year-old student. On Wednesday, March 23, a magistrate court in Egor, Benin, Edo State sentenced Rotimi Olayemi, a 47-year-old English language teacher at the King of Kings College, Benin. He was convicted on four counts bothering on sexual assault, given four years imprisonment or an option of N50,000 fine for sexually molesting a 13-year old by an Egor Magistrate Court in Benin, Edo State.
Osasu Ewemade, prosecutor, had told the court that Olayemi committed the crime on May 26, 2014, in his office in the college. The father of three was said to have invited the13-year-old pupil of the school, to his office where he hugged, kissed and fondled her.
Ewemade had also said Olayemi put his hand in her private parts thereby contravening Section 360 of the Criminal Code, Cap 48, Vol. II, Law of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria, 1976, as applicable in Edo State.
The convict had pleaded not guilty to the charges. But Igho Braimoh, presiding magistrate, found him guilty on all the four counts and sentenced him to one year in prison for each count. Braimoh added that the prison terms would run concurrently.
Another suspected pervert facing a two-count charge bothering on sexual assault of a minor is Freedom Barryneh. The 33-year-old security man allegedly raped his neighbour’s eight-year-old daughter. Barryneh allegedly had carnal knowledge of the girl in the Ajegunle area of Lagos State after the victim requested N10 from him to buy biscuit.
After giving her the money, Barryneh, who was watching a pornographic film when the minor entered his apartment, allegedly asked the girl to undress, but she refused. Consequently, he allegedly forced her to undress and dragged her into bed and raped her. Barryneh was said to have warned the girl not to tell anybody about the act. But the girl opened up to her mother who raised the alarm and reported the matter to the Police.
Barryneh, who hails from Rivers State, admitted giving the girl N10 to buy biscuit, but denied raping her. He claimed that the allegation was an attempt to blackmail him.
In any case, Francisca Okere, a Police sergeant in charge of the case, brought Barryneh before an Apapa Magistrate’s Court on two counts of rape, an offence in contravention of sections 137 and 259 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. The offence was said to have been committed in August 2015.
Barryneh pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail by O.A. Adegite, presiding magistrate, in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.
The sexual abuse against young female Nigerians has not really escaped the attention of those who would like to be of assistance, but it appears they are also limited in many places. For instance, Ifeyinwa Awagu, secretary, Foundation for African Cultural Heritage, FACH, a human rights organisation, said that lack of forensic evidence, inability of parents to allow their wards to testify and social stigma were the major constrains in prosecuting offenders.
She also identified other constraints as lack of facilities for Deoxyribonucleic Acid, DNA, tests. Awagu, who noted that Lagos State had declared zero tolerance for sexual and child abuses, said: “Although, we do not have official national statistics on how many children have been raped or sexually abused. But the daily reports from the media should keep us on our toes and keep us aware that we have an epidemic on our hands. Whether we are related to the victims or not, we should all be actively involved in its condemnation and prevention. When we condemn sexual perversion in strong terms, the perpetrators become uncomfortable and keep off.’’
Jessica Ndupu, president, Society for Support and Welfare for the Under- Privileged, is more concerned about the lifetime effects of sexual abuse on the child. According to her, some of the effects include severe distress, fear, shame, stigmatisation, discrimination and other physical and psychological health issues.
“Child sexual abuse occurs all over the world. But its phenomenal growth over the years in Nigeria leaves much to be desired. Do you know that up to one-third of adolescent girls report their first sexual experience as being forced? Sadly enough, tradition and culture have prevented such cases from being appropriately addressed and ultimately taken seriously.
“Sexual abuse of children is a public health issue which has long term negative effects on the victims,’’ Ndupu said in a newspaper interview.
Josephine Effah-Chukwuma, executive director, Project Alert, a non-government women’s organisation, said that there had been an increase in cases of the child sexual abuse/molestation in Nigeria could be as a result of public awareness of the issue, and the need to take action to end it.
Effah-Chukwuma further said: “Sexual offences, especially rape, incest and defilement of children, seem to be continuing unabated, because of poor response to reported cases by our law enforcement officials and delays in the judiciary. If investigations by the police are to be diligently carried out, prosecuted, and suspects given maximum sentencing, it would serve as a deterrent to others.
Furthermore, there is need for aggressive mass sensitisation programmes on how sexual abuse of children especially can be prevented. The key things to ensure in preventing sexual abuse of children, are access and opportunity. Sexual abuse of a child can only occur, if a predator has both access and opportunity to a child. So, the question is, who has access to our children?”
The activist said there is no reason for adults to engage in sexual abuse of children, who in most cases, know, love, and trust such adults to protect them. “What reason can an adult give for sexually molesting a child? Is it indecent dressing, seduction or what? Paedophiles are just psychopaths and social deviants,” she said.
Effah-Chukwuma, however, advocated mass sensitisation programmes at all levels to eliminate the problem, while those being caught in the acts should be severely punished to serve as a deterrent to others.
The recent study of Nigeria’s Population Commission with support from the UNICEF and the United States Centres for Disease Control has revealed that six out of 10 Nigerian children experienced some form of violence, and a quarter of girls suffered sexual violence. According to the report, violence usually starts at a young age. Of those who experienced sexual violence before the age of 18, more than one third of girls and nearly one in six boys experienced their first incident of sexual violence between 14 and 15, while almost a third of boys and one in five girls experienced their first incident of sexual violence at 13 years and younger.
Incidentally, the majority of children never tell anyone about their experience and less than five percent of children who experienced violence never receive the necessary support needed for recovery.
Besides, about 15 percent of females surveyed reported getting pregnant as a result of sexual violence and 10 percent of boys and girls reported missing school due to an experience of sexual or physical violence.
Nevertheless, sexual abuse against children is universal problem. But according to a study done in 2009, South Africa, Zimbabwe and United Kingdom were leading the pack.
To stem the rise in Nigeria, activists were united that more awareness would be needed for both parents and children. According to Hope Okoye, executive director of the Integrated Anti-Human Trafficking and Community Development Initiative, INTACOM- Africa, it is better to prevent it happening than seek a cure for it.
“Parents and guardians needs to educate both boys and girls about sex. Some parents do not want to talk about sex education and this is a subject that needs to be addressed. They have to teach them about issues on sexuality because these children are being exposed to different images through the internet, television and newspapers,’’ Okoye said.
Above all activists expect Aisha Alhassan, minister of Women Affairs, to rise up to the occasion and help to assuage some of the harrowing problems besetting Nigerian female children.
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