An orphan, Basirat, has been taken into
protective custody by the Lagos State Government after she was allegedly
abused by people who should have protected her.
First was her teacher, then her sister’s husband.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Basirat
had been put in the care of her sister who lived in the Ajah area of
Lagos State, after her parents died in 2014 when she was barely 15.
She was enrolled in a private school in Ikota, where a teacher, Folorunsho Joseph, 34, allegedly drugged and deflowered her.
Her sister’s husband, 37-year-old
Mukaila Bello, allegedly took advantage of the incident and defiled her
repeatedly until she became pregnant.
Bello, an indigene of Kwara State, has four children and works with a charity organisation on Victoria Island, Lagos State.
After forcing Basirat to have an
abortion in a chemist’s, Bello was alleged to have continued to have sex
with her until she became pregnant the second time.
He allegedly took her to a hospital in the Orile area of the state where another abortion was carried out.
The victim reportedly informed her grandparent, who relocated her to the Ijebu Ode area of Ogun State to live with some in-laws.
Bello allegedly visited and defiled her at the new place, which resulted in a third pregnancy.
He was said to have made her to have an abortion for the third time.
The victim’s family members subsequently petitioned the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender.
Basirat was taken to the Mirabel Centre,
Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, where medical tests
were carried out on her.
The test results reportedly confirmed that she was defiled.
Basirat, who spoke with our correspondent, said her ordeal started after her parents died.
She said, “After their death, I went to
stay with my sister in Ajah where I was enrolled in a secondary school
in Ikota. One day, my teacher asked me to bring a textbook from his
house. When I got there, he gave me something to drink and I slept off.
By the time I woke up, he had deflowered me.
When I got home, I told my
sister and her husband. They went to the teacher’s house with a
policeman, but he had fled.
“After the incident, my sister’s husband
started making advances at me. One day, we went to take one of his
children from school and he stopped by at a hotel. He said he wanted to
sleep with me, but I refused. He said he had taken a drug already. He
forced himself on me in the presence of the small child.”
She said she could not tell her sister
because she had high blood pressure, adding that the abuse continued
until she became pregnant sometime in 2015.
Basirat said the suspect pleaded with her not to tell anyone so as not to “destroy the family,” adding that she had an abortion.
She said the abuse went on until she became pregnant the second time in 2016 and was forced to have another abortion.
“I had the chance to stop living in the
house when I went for a festival with my grandpa in Agbowa, Ikorodu. I
told him that I was not returning to Ajah because my sister’s husband
had impregnated and aborted for me twice,” she added.
She claimed that an aunt who stayed in
London arranged for her relocation to Ijebu Ode, the hometown of her
(the aunt’s) in-laws.
Basirat claimed that while she was waiting to go to Ijebu Ode, Bello used the grandpa’s phone to speak with her.
“He called my grandpa and asked him to
give me the phone. He queried me for telling them about what had been
happening and ordered that I recant my statements, but I refused.
“He (Bello) later said he wanted to give
me a phone and he would bring it to Ijebu Ode. Shortly after I got to
Ijebu Ode in May 2017, he came visiting and slept with me. He did it
about three times. He said his friend stayed in Ijebu Ode. I became
pregnant the third time and he gave me money for the abortion,” she
said.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the
suspect allegedly became desperate to have Basirat back and pestered her
to call her grandpa and deny her allegations against him.
When she didn’t bulge, the suspect was alleged to have started monitoring her activities on Facebook through the phone he gave her in Ijebu Ode.
Basirat said she had added a male colleague in a tailoring shop on Facebook when the suspect called and accused her of having a boyfriend.
“He called the person I was staying with
on the telephone. He told the man that he should chase me away from the
house because I was evil.
“The family asked me what was going on
and I told them it was my sister’s husband and he had already threatened
that if I didn’t return to his house, he would do something to make
sure those I was living with chase me out,” she added.
However, the daughter of the man with
whom Basirat lived in Ijebu Ode, Kaosara, said Bello was known to her
family as Basirat’s boyfriend.
She said, “On August 8, 2017, we saw a
mobile phone in Basirat’s wardrobe. My stepmother spoke with him (Bello)
on the telephone and he confirmed that he gave her the phone. He said
he wanted to marry her. He and my stepmother spoke frequently on the
phone. I also spoke with me a couple of times.”
She said she warned Basirat not to have another boyfriend since she had a serious suitor.
Kaosara said the relationship progressed and she once asked the suspect for money for Basirat’s aso ebi for a wedding, and he allegedly sent N4,000.
“All this while, we never knew Mukaila
(Bello) was Basirat’s sister’s husband. However, we noticed that he was
always monitoring her.
“One day, the girl got fed up and she
confessed that the man was her sister’s husband who after impregnating
her twice, followed her to Ijebu Ode and impregnated her the third time.
She said she had told him she was not interested in the relationship,
but he had refused to let go of her,” she said.
Kaosara’s stepmother, Asisat, claimed that Bello gave her beverages while introducing himself as a suitor, which she rejected.
She said she was surprised at their age difference and asked the 37-year-old why he was not married.
“He said it was a long story. He said he
was serious about marrying Basirat. I asked the girl about the man’s
wife and she said he had chased her away. She didn’t say he was her
sister’s husband.
“When the secret leaked, the man
confessed to me and said he needed to ask for her forgiveness. He later
told me he had actually slept in our house the previous day and forgot a
phone, a T-shirt, a power bank, and an ATM card. He sent one Friday
from Ajah to pick the items.
“Because we wanted to end the immoral
relationship between him and the girl, we quickly handed over all the
items to Friday, including the girl’s phone. We also destroyed her SIM
card. However, the polythene bag in which the boy took away the items
tore and two cheques fell.
I angrily tore one; Kaosara kept the second
cheque,” she added.
Officials of the OPD were said to have reported the case at the Area J Police Command, Elemoro, and the suspect was arrested.
Our correspondent was told that the
suspect denied the allegations, including the claim that he visited
Ijebu Ode to see Basirat.
A source at the OPD, however, said investigations by the agency revealed that the abortion took place in three different places.
He noted that the teacher who first raped her in 2014 and one of those who conducted the abortions had been arrested.
He said, “The girl was 15 when the
teacher defiled her at Ikota. The main perpetrator, Bello, father of
four children, took advantage of that and raped her as well. He forced
three abortions on her.
“The teacher, who changed school after the act, has been arrested at his new school in Ikota.
“Although the main perpetrator is
denying the allegations, the people at Ijebu Ode found a cheque he
forgot in the victim’s room and he will have to explain how it got
there, among other evidences against him.”
The Director of the OPD, Mrs. Olubukola Salami, described the acts as “heinous”, saying justice would be done.
She said, “We will continue to ensure
that perpetrators of such dastardly acts are brought to book, especially
in view of the inauguration of the sexual offences court in Lagos
State. OPD affirms its stand with the Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi
Ambode, that there will be no room for sexual offenders in the state.”
When contacted, the state Police Public
Relations Officer, SP Chike Oti, confirmed the incident, adding that the
suspects had been arraigned before an Igbosere Magistrate’s Court on
Friday.
A charge sheet obtained by our
correspondent showed that the main suspect, Bello; the teacher, Joseph;
and the chemist, Amaechi Emmanuel, were arraigned on four counts before
Magistrate Patrick Adekomaiya.
While Bello was arraigned on counts of
unlawful defilement and procurement of abortion with N15,000, Joseph was
arraigned for unlawful defilement.
The third suspect, Emmanuel, was arraigned for carrying out an unlawful abortion.
The police prosecutor, Friday Mameh, who
stood in for the resident prosecutor, Peace Chukwudi, said the offences
were contrary to sections 137 and 147 of the Criminal Law of Lagos
State, Nigeria, 2011.
Adekomaiya, who was represented by
another magistrate, N.A. Layeni, admitted each of the three defendants
to bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties each in like sum.
Layeni said each of the sureties must
present evidence of tax payments and must deposit N10,000 to the Chief
Registrar’s account.
The case was adjourned till February 22, 2018.
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