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By Chioma Okezie-Okeh
Sometime in September, 2022, the Ogun State Police Command announced the arrest of an 84-year-old man, Stephen Jack after he was alleged to have defiled an eight-year-old girl (names withheld). The suspect, who resides in Okun Owa area of Ijebu Ode, was arrested following a report lodged at Obalende Police Division headquarters by the father of the victim. The father of the victim alleged that when he discovered that his daughter was bleeding from her private part, he asked her what happened and she alleged that the suspect had sex with her.
According to the state spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, a Superintendent of Police, as soon as the case was reported, the DPO Obalende division, Murphy Salami, a Superintendent of Police detailed his detectives to the scene, where the randy old man was apprehended. Initial investigation revealed that the old man is a known paedophile in the area.
Just like in the case of the Pa Jack who is currently cooling it off in jail, Oyeyemi has drawn the attention of parents to what he described as the increase in defilement and rape of children and young adults in the state. The sudden increase, he told Saturday Sun, was because majority of the cases which were reported was frustrated by the victim’s family.
Long list of cases
Listing some other cases that were in reported in September, Oyeyemi said: “There was also the case of a 38-year-old pastor who was arrested for defiling a 14-year-old girl who is a member of the choir in his church.
“The pastor, who is the General Overseer (GO) of The Beloved Chapel situated at No 9, Iyaniwura Street, off Owonikoko street, Agbado was arrested shortly after the mother of his latest victim reported the matter. She alleged that while she travelled to treat herself of a certain ailment, her daughter who happened to be a choir member in their church went to church and the pastor lured her into his room and forcefully had canal knowledge of her.
“The pastor who admitted defiling the victim pleaded for forgiveness. Be noted that his family and that of the victim are close but he didn’t know how and why such thing happened to him. “In the course of investigation, it was revealed that the pastor would have been arrested but the mother of the victim frustrated the move because she doesn’t want to offend her pastor. But when the victim continuously bled from her private part, she was left with no other choice but to report the matter.
“In another case, a 46-year-old man, Olusegun Oluwole, raped his daughter who was 17. He was arrested after a concerned citizen who heard the matter reported him to the police.
“She alleged that while she was sleeping in their one-bedroom apartment at Amolaso area in Abeokuta, her father who realised that her siblings were sleeping pounced one her. He threatened to kill her if she should scream. “The suspect, who is a father of six, confessed to the crime and pleaded for forgiveness, claiming not knowing what came over him when he committed the crime.
“Also, in late August, operatives arrested a 49-year-old man, Amoda Bola after he impregnated his own daughter. The suspect, a resident of Idi-Oro Street, Ode Remo was nabbed when the victim was bold enough to speak out. She alleged that her father not only had sex with her but brought in his friends to have sex with her in exchange for money. The victim insisted that it was her father who got her pregnant.
“On interrogation, the suspect, who initially denied the allegation later confessed when the victim confronted him. His confession led to the arrest of five others who had slept with the victim at different times on the invitation of the father. The other suspects were identified as Ahmed Ogunkoya, Muyiwa Adeoye, David Sunday Solaja, Emmanuel Olusanya and Joshua Olaniran.”
Trust no man with your daughter
On why the continuous increase of rape and other sexual offences in the state, Oyeyemi warned that the evil act is thriving because most of the suspects are walking free after the act “The families of the victim always frustrate the investigation of the police. They would go behind the police and receive money from the family of the suspect. They will frustrate our efforts. The fact is that if they are supporting us to the logical conclusion of the case and appropriate punishment is awarded, others will run away from it. On the case of the old man, Jack, several persons from his community came to report that he is notorious in the act of defiling minors for so many years. We hope that the community and family of the victim will agree to testify.
“There was a case that was reported in 2018 and the family stood solidly and it was concluded. The man was sentenced to life imprisonment. It happened in a village in Egbeda area. The case that occurred with the Chrisland School in Lagos is a good example. The family followed the case and the man was sentenced to 60 years imprisonment
“The major challenge in this part of the world is that as soon as we start investigation, you hear all kinds of excuses. Some will say, he is the pastor of their church. We are living in the same area. We just discovered that his father and our grandfather were friends. They will start bringing one narrative or the other that is not good to hear.
“I used to warn people in any of my programmes not to leave you child with one Uncle, neighbour or encourage their children to play in a man’s room. Even if you observe that your daughter and husband are getting too close, you need to watch out because we have seen fathers impregnating daughters. I paraded one sometime ago. He was a pastor of a very big church; he has been raping the daughter frequently to the extent that he took her to an abortion clinic three times. When he realised that the daughter was getting pregnant, he took her to a family planning clinic and they inserted a contraceptive for her.
“These acts continued undetected till the girl who was 22 as at the time the matter was reported confided in her friend while they were in NYSC (National Youth Service Corp) camp. It was the friend that encouraged her to report to the police.
“He was arrested and is now in prison custody. We also arrested the nurse that administered the contraceptive and they were sentenced together. The man that I am talking about was a very influential pastor at Owode,” Oyeyemi stated.
