The tears were streaming down the face of Martha Ogbonna as she
narrated how the innocence of her seven years old was allegedly taken
away by a randy 26-year -old neighbour on May 14.
The single mother had gone out, as usual, to seek for daily sustenance
for her three-member family, when she came back to meet a visibly
shaken daughter.
Since she separated from her husband after some ‘irreconcilable’
differences, she has been the one taking care of her two daughters but
the pain her youngest daughter was undergoing after being raped at
least four times by a neighbour was uppermost on her mind as she
recounted what transpired on May 14 in Apo Wumba, where she resides.
Wumba is a little community about 20 minutes drive from the area one
section of the capital city.
Martha said she came back from home to meet her daughter, who had been
sent home earlier in the day for wearing a dirty uniform.
‘‘I came back and saw the way she was walking as if she was in pain. I
asked her what the matter was, but she said nothing. She later sat
down, and I noticed the way she sat down was not the normal way and I
asked her again what the problem was. She said nothing. Then she
started crying.
‘‘I took her inside the room and told her to lie on the bed so I could
take a look at her legs. Her sister, who was beside me, then told me
she (Jennifer) had been sent home earlier because she wore a dirty
uniform. As I opened her legs and checked her pants, what I saw at
first, I did not understand. I felt the thing, and I saw it was
whitish mixed with blood. We both started crying.
”I asked her, who did this to you? Where did you follow when you were
coming back? She told me it was one man who works at a barbing saloon,
which also serves as a dry-cleaning shop, near our house.
‘‘I immediately told one of my neighbours to follow me to the said
shop to verify. I had to be dragging her, as she did not want to
follow me. Immediately we got there, she again pointed to the barbing
saloon, when I asked her, ‘who did this to you?’ She also mentioned
the name of the barber as the one ‘who did this to her’.”
She said it was after she pressed her for more information, that the
girl said, ”this is the fourth time, he (suspect) did this to me”.
A police operative from the Apo division called her later in the day
after she left the hospital asking her to report to the station.
At the police station, after a brief interrogation, she was told that
she would have to bring her daughter to a police clinic for
independent medical tests.
‘‘I told them I don’t have money to make a case. They said I should go
to the police hospital with an officer. It was even the DPO
(Divisional Police Officer) who gave me N5000 to go and do the tests
(at the police clinic). As I was going, the human rights people were
also calling me but I told them I was with the police,’’ she recalled.
The police later arrested the suspect, Smart ‘Emma’ Imo, who is
reportedly still in custody.
But weeks after, Martha said the case was still dragging even after
the victim was tested at the police hospital. She said she was told to
pay N3000 for a ‘case file’ that would be developed before the suspect
can be taken to court.
Martha said she has been threatened by some members of the suspect’s
family who want her to withdraw her allegations. She mentioned the
wife of the suspect, who she said visited her to warn her against
going ahead with the case. The unnamed persons also reportedly told
her they had friends in high places that could influence the case.
