There was incredibly palpable anger at the Effurun Magistrate’s District Court 1 sitting in Uvwie Local Government Area, Delta State, when trial opened, penultimate Monday, in a case of sexual abuse and torture of 13 year old Junior Secondary School, JSS 2 student of Ekpan Basic Secondary School (names withheld).
See the full and painful story below:
Mrs. Chibuzor Onyeji, the accused, who lives at Oghoyoma Onomokpome Street, Ekpan, was charged with assault and grievous injuries on the visibly traumatised girl, who is her cousin and had been living with her since 2010. Police are currently searching for Mrs. Onyeji's husband, Francis Onyeji who is currently at large, whose alleged sexual abuse of the girl resulted in his wife’s vicious knife attack. Apparently, all the lawyers and witnesses in the court were incredibly upset at the accused's counsel during his defense and even more angry when the accused knelt down and begged the girl to forgive her after pleading not guilty to the one-count charge of assault and causing grievous injuries. According to the victim, her cousin’s husband started abusing her sexually and pacifying her with cash over two years ago, whenever he was off duty. On one of these days, part of the N1,500 which he allegedly gave her, after sleeping with her the previous day, got missing in school during break period and she reported the matter to her class teacher. After a useless search of the money, her classmates, who felt wrongly accused, followed the complainant home after closing to express their anger to her guardian, Mrs. Onyeji. The young girl said in court: "My aunt asked where I got the money and l told her it was her husband who gave me after sleeping with me. She said it was a lie." Warning: From here, things get really graphic and painful. Go on. The young girl continued: "At about 9.30p.m she woke me up, heated a knife on the fire and started to use it on my body, saying she will kill me half-dead. She used pestle to hit my head several times and iron rod to hit my ankles. She wanted to pour boiled water on me, but she later said no, vowing to do that when I return from school the next day. She put the hot knife in my chest" The young victim also recounted another incident as follows: "This other old mark on my back was when she asked me to boil yam. She said the sizes were too big and took a piece from the boiling pot, unzipped my dress and placed it on my back." The Vice Principal at Ekpan Basic Secondary School, Mrs. Queenbetty Unogwa, said the school authority had sent for Mrs. Onyeji several times because of her ward’s incessant lateness and absenteeism. Mrs. Unogwa explains: "The pupil claimed it was due to prolonged engagement with house chores, which caused her to miss mathematics, agricultural science and two other papers during last term examinations. Mrs Onyeji refused honouring the invitations." One day when the accused brought the girl to school with the intention of disgracing her publicly after inflicting the knife injuries on her the night before, the school authority cashed on the rare opportunity to get to the bottom of all of the girl's whereabouts. The VP explains: "We saw the degree of burns and swellings on her head and we started asking the woman questions. But her behaviour was very unruly, prompting us to call the police. The girl is a very intelligent girl despite the situation she found herself. She is among the best in her class; l believe that she would do far better given a conducive environment." The school immediately had to put her in care of the school’s Guidance Counsellor, Mrs. Rita Obuh, who took custody because the police said they could not keep her at the station. Before adjourning the matter to July 21, trial magistrate, Mrs. Blesing Ideh, granted the accused bail as a nursing mother of a three-month old baby in the sum of N500,000 with a surety in like sum, which must include a confirmed landed property within the Magisterial District, while the accused must be present in court at every sitting. Also, a joint prayer by the Child Welfare/Development Officer from Delta State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Lopgun Solomon, and Mr. Omorere of the Nigerian Child Welfare Fund, that the court grant them custody of the girl was granted, despite the appeal of Pius Nworie, biological father of the abused teenager, to take his daughter home. The girl is presently in an undisclosed orphanage, where she is recovering from the physical injuries after undergoing medical examination and treatment. To think that it is this young girl's cousin who is also a mother to her own three month old baby that would do all of this! Incredibly sad indeed.
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