ON Monday, January 4, a 14-year-old girl, Chigozie (not real name), who had just
been brought to Lagos from Enugu State two weeks before, to live with his uncle
at Ajah area of Lagos, became a victim of one of the now common crimes in Lagos
– child rape.
Chigozie’s
case became a trend on social media as news broke that the alleged suspect in
the crime, a high ranking official of Exxon Mobil in Lagos, Mr. James Onuoha,
had been arrested by officials from the Zone 2 Police Headquarters, Onikan,
Lagos.
Saturday
PUNCH later got details of how the man allegedly took advantage of a child he
had not met before in a mini-flat he let out to her uncle.
Chigozie
said she was elated when her uncle told her he was bringing her to Lagos. It
was still hard for the shy girl to speak about the rape.
Chigozie
said she heard a knock on the gate of their compound at about 11am that Monday
morning and when she went to check who it was, she met Onuoha at the gate, who
told her that he was the landlord and was looking for her uncle.
She
said, “I told him my uncle and aunty were not around and he said he would wait
for them. I did not see anything wrong in that and I opened the gate for him to
come in.
“My
sister (her four-year-old cousin in fact) and I were watching cartoon. He sat
down to watch with us. Later, he started to ask how old I was. When I told him,
he asked if I wanted a job. I told him that my uncle had just brought me to
Lagos to put me in school and that I did not want a job.
“He
said he works in a big oil company and could get me a job if I wanted. I told
him no. He later asked if I had a phone and what my phone number was. I told
him I did not know my phone number by heart and he took my phone to look at
it.”
Chigozie
explained that, she stood up to go inside the room to arrange some things
because she was no longer comfortable sitting and chatting with the man.
According
to her, she found it curious that as soon as she stood up, the man followed
her.
“He
followed me into the room. He then opened the toilet of the master bedroom and
looked inside there. He also checked inside the wardrobe. When I asked what he
was looking for, he said he needed to be sure that I was not lying that my
uncle and aunty were not around.
“After
he was done, I waited for him to leave the room but he did not. He grabbed me
and pushed me on the bed. When he realised that I was shouting, he took one of
the pillows on the bed and used it to cover my face.”
All
this happened in the presence of the four-year-old daughter of Chigozie’s uncle.
Chigozie
said when Onuoha was done, he dropped N1,000 on the bed.
“He
told me to use it to take care of myself. He said when he came back the
following day, he would get me a better phone,” she said.
But
the traumatised girl broke down in tears as the man exited the house.
Her
uncle’s wife got home first and discovered what happened.
Chigozie’s
uncle told our correspondent that when his wife got home and saw the girl
crumbled on the floor and crying, she asked what was wrong and she got no
answer from her as the girl cried uncontrollably.
He
said, “I had earlier missed calls from my landlord and my wife. I was in the
market at the time and could not call them back. When I had the chance, I called
my wife and she asked if I had got a call from our landlord. I said no. She
said she just got home and found my niece crying.
“When
my wife asked her what was wrong and my niece could not explain, my daughter
took her to the bedroom and started demonstrating what happened. My wife told
me that my daughter lay on the bed and spread her legs. The girl stood up again
then started making a humping motion and said ‘Landlord did like this and like
this. That is what landlord did to Aunty…on your bed’. The little girl
demonstrated everything that happened in her presence in the room.
“I
was mad. I rushed home and still found my niece crying. Again, my daughter took
me to the room and started to demonstrate ‘what landlord did to aunty’.”
The
man said since he did not want to make any mistake that would scuttle their
case, he instantly called a lawyer.
According
to him, the lawyer told him he needed to get confirmation that the landlord was
indeed in their house.
Chigozie’s
uncle said, “I called my landlord and apologised to him that I missed his
calls. I told him that I had been trying to call him so that we could negotiate
when I would pay his outstanding rent.
“I
owe him some months of rent and that was why he came to our house in the first
place. He said that he was in my house when he was calling me and that even my
wife was not around too.
“I
apologised to him and said if he had told me that he was coming, I would have
prepared for him. That was how I knew that my little girl was not lying that he
was indeed at my house.”
Saturday
PUNCH learnt that after the case was reported at the Langbasa Police Division,
Ajah, Onuoha refused to report when he was summoned. He allegedly went to the
Zone 2 Police Command to make a counter report against Chidera’s uncle.
A
policeman at the Langbasa division said one of their colleagues at Zone 2
suddenly came and collected the case file, the report of the test conducted on
the girl and every evidence relating to the case.
It
would be recalled that THE PUNCH reported that the Management of Exxon Mobil
had also reacted to the case.
A
statement from one of the company’s spokespersons, stated, “Mobil Producing
Nigeria, confirms that the police authorities notified it on January 11, 2016,
of an alleged case of defilement brought against one of its personnel that is
unrelated to his duties with the company.”
“The
company has also assured the police of its full support on the investigations
if required.”
Saturday
PUNCH learnt that the Wale Babalakin Chambers has indicated interest in taking
up Chigozie’s case pro bono.
A
human rights activist, Ms. Sola Alamuti of the Nigeria Injustice Group, told
our correspondent that she took the victim to the Mirabel Sexual Assault
Referral Centre, Ikeja on Tuesday, where another round of tests and treatments
were conducted on her.
Alamuti
said she paid visit to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai
Owoseni, to seek his assurance that justice would be done on the matter. She
said the CP later called the officials at Zone 2 in her presence and told them
to produce Onuoha unfailingly to answer questions on the allegations against
him or he would have to go arrest him personally.
For
this reason, Onuoha was arrested on Wednesday.
Later,
Alamuti said she went to Zone 2 along with a lawyer assigned to the girl’s case
from the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender.
Saturday
PUNCH learnt that Onuoha told the police that he indeed visited his tenant’s
apartment and that he also searched the wardrobe and bedroom just to see if the
girl’s uncle was in hiding.
When
he was asked about the money, he was said to have admitted that he left N1,000
for the girl just as a gift and for no particular reason.
On
Thursday, Saturday PUNCH learnt that Onuoha was arraigned before an Igbosere
Chief Magistrate’s Court, Lagos on charges of child defilement. The case comes
up for hearing again on February 23, 2016.
