A 35-year-old man, Andrew Ekanem,
has been arrested by the police for allegedly raping his neighbour’s daughter
in the Bariga area of Lagos State.
The 14-year-old victim was still
undergoing a six-month treatment for tuberculosis when she was attacked by the
suspect on Monday morning.
The mother of the victim, Mrs.
Adenike Aderinkomi, a trader, told Punch at their house on
Akilo Street that her daughter went to ease herself in the early hours of the
morning when she was cornered by the Cross River State indigene.
She said, “It was around 2am on
Monday when my daughter woke up and said she wanted to go and ease herself.
“I was having my quiet time and
didn’t know when I slept off. I woke up about 15 minutes later and didn’t see
her in the room.
“I woke her father up and he said he
didn’t know her whereabouts. We both became anxious and went outside to search
for her.
“Another neighbour also joined us in
the search.”
She said she was shouting her
daughter’s name in the backyard, but did not get any response.
Aderinkomi said about 10 minutes
later, her husband saw their daughter coming out of Ekanem’s room.
Our correspondent learnt people
overwhelmed her with a barrage of questions, but the Primary six pupil insisted
she went to ease herself.
Her mother said she pulled her away
from the growing crowd of neighbours and pressed her to talk.
“My daughter became afraid. She then
told me that while she was on her way to ease herself, Ekanem grabbed her and
took her inside his room to sleep with her. She said while I was shouting her
name, he covered her mouth.
“People seized him and wanted to
beat him up. But I had to quickly report the matter to the police very early in
the morning so people would not take the law into their hands,” she said.
Aderinkomi said she was surprised
because when her daughter fell critically ill in February, last year, Ekanem
assisted her family in taking her to Calabar, the Cross River State capital,
for traditional treatment.
Punch Metro learnt that after the
alleged rape, the victim was taken to the Gbagada General Hospital for testing
and treatment.
A medical report, which was sighted
by our correspondent, revealed that the victim sustained bruises in her private
parts.
The paper, signed by one Dr.
Ojekunle of the hospital, stated, “The child was caught with a neighbour around
2am today. She confessed that the neighbour called her on her way to ease herself
and forced her and had sex with her.
“She sustained bruises in her anus
and vagina (as a result of) sexual assault.”
Our correspondent was told that the
victim had been taken to an undisclosed orthodox church for “prayers and
deliverance”.
A carpenter, Tunde Hassan, who lives
in the house where the incident happened, expressed surprise, saying nobody
imagined Ekanem could do such a thing.
Hassan said, “Up till now, I cannot
comprehend what happened. The man was a gentle man and he never fought or made
trouble with anybody.
“But at the same time, people should
learn to forgive when things like this happen, because you never can tell.
Somebody that was bad to you today can be good to you tomorrow.”
It was learnt that the suspect was
arrested by policemen from the Bariga Police Division.
A police source told our
correspondent that investigation revealed the suspect was fond of the act and
usually induced his victims with money.
He said, “That was not his first
time of doing such a thing. This particular girl, he had slept with her about
three times. He was always giving her money ranging from N200 to N500.
“But this time, he was caught
red-handed and that was why the girl’s parents are insisting on taking him to
court. When he was queried, he didn’t give any reason for his behaviour. He’s
just fond of sleeping with little girls.”
The Police Public Relations Officer,
Lagos State Command, Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident, adding that the
suspect had been taken to court.
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