Anthony Iwuoma
The family is supposedly the safest place for a growing child. Every child longs to run home into the loving embrace of the parents whenever danger lurks outside because the home is a haven for parental love, security and peace. Sadly, for some girls, safety is anywhere but home.
Nigerians are daily inundated by spine-chilling stories of abuses of fathers who abuse their daughters. This has twisted family trust and bonding, as nobody is sure of whom to leave female children in care of since they are no longer safe even with their biological fathers.
The society is often assailed by stories of rape in the family, where perverted fathers convert their own daughters to sex objects to satisfy their sexual urge.
From whatever angle you look at it, this practice is an abomination and cannot be justified by any reason no matter what excuses are invented.
Sometimes, some of the excuses you hear are unbelievable.
What do you make of a 44-year-old man , who saw nothing in raping his daughter. That was exactly what Emmanuel Udoh said after he was arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly having sexual intercourse with his daughter at the Meiran area.
The Akwa-Ibom native told the police: “I have had sexual intercourse with my daughter several times. It is a normal thing and I don’t see anything bad in sleeping with her because I know she will not get pregnant. I don’t ejaculate inside her”.
In a similar vein, a 48-year-old Nigeria-based Ghanaian, simply identified as Agyeman, was allegedly caught in the act with his 14-year-old daughter by residents of Agbado-Okearo area of Ogun State. It was the shout of the victim that made neighbours to rush to her rescue. They were flabbergasted when the suspect told them to leave him alone to enjoy his daughter.
“I have every right to have sex with my daughter, after all I am the one that gave birth to her and have been taking care of her,” he reportedly said. Talk of the devil himself.
In one of the cases in Oyo state, a 43-year-old man, Gafar Hamza, who was arrested for allegedly impregnating his 20-year-old daughter, admitted that he had slept with his daughter four times but denied paternity of her pregnancy.
He suspected that he was under a diabolic attack by contended that he was not sure that he was responsible for her pregnancy because she has other boyfriends, adding that he was not even the one who deflowered her.
Even grandfathers are involved in this obnoxious act
For instance, in Bukuru, Jos South Local Government area of Plateau state , after a 75-year-old man was accused of defiling his grandchildren, aged 11 and 14, respectively, claiming that the girls seduced him.
The shameless septuagenarian made a shocking confession: “I know that I have done wrong but the girls lured me into it. I am a married man with grown up children but the little girls tempted me and made me have sex with them. They have been on my neck because they derive satisfaction in sleeping with me and I had no choice but to satisfy them. I slept with them several times.”
In a related development, in Minna, Niger State, one Basiru Audu after his arrest for allegedly sexually abusing his own daughter in his house located at London Street in the state capital, blamed his wife for not being around whenever he needed sex because she traveled a lot and so he resorted to sleeping with his daughter “to ease off tension”.
For 41- year-old Raymond Anyanwu, who was arrested by the Lagos State Police Command, for impregnating his 15-year-old daughter in 2016, blamed his action on frustration.
In August 2017 in Unguwa Uku, Kano, a father, who was alleged to have been sleeping with his 14-year-old daughter, got her pregnant. The girl during interrogation revealed that she had aborted thrice for her father. In this case, the suspect blamed his action on the devil.
In one such horrifying episode, a father in Ejigbo, Lagos, defiled his nine-month-old baby in whose care the mother entrusted the child before stepping out to buy some household items.
Also, following the report by one Maryam Abdullahi, aged 24 years, against her husband, the Bauchi State Kenneth Abaya, who was arraigned, for allegedly defiling his 10-year-old daughter, did not only admit to committing the crime but also said he derived pleasure ‘doing it’ with her.
Police Command arrested Ali Lawan, for allegedly raping his three-year-old daughter in Kirfi Local Government Area (LGA) of the state. The victim was taken to the General Hospital, Kirfi, for medical attention and on examination, it was found out that indeed, the little girl had been raped.
Segun Durojaiye was arrested on January 18, 2018, for allegedly raping his 16-year-old daughter. In this case, the victim revealed that her father had been having canal knowledge of her since 2014 and that she had aborted over three pregnancies in the process.
In Makurdi, Benue State, a 40-year-old father was arrested in 2015, for allegedly defiling his 11-year-old daughter. The randy father was arrested after a neighbour who heard the cries of the girl, sneaked into his compound to know what was wrong, only to find the suspect in the sacrilegious act.
Also, a 43-year-old man, Olusegun Adefemi, was alleged to have sexually abused his three daughters of ages seven, five and three, in the Ijede area of Ikorodu, Lagos.
Another case that left everyone astonished was that of a 10-year-old girl who alleged that her father was responsible for her pregnancy. Her father, Kenneth Abuja, was alleged to have regularly abused his 10 year -old daughter at his Idimu Road, Egbeda, home and also threatened to kill her if she opened up to anyone before the bubble burst after her mother noticed changes in her.
Makurdi, the Benue State capital, was not left out of the nationwide shameful acts. A 42-year-old man, Akate Thomas, was charged to court for allegedly raping his two daughters aged between 10 and 12 years, respectively. In the process of which the older one got pregnant.
Likewise, 34-year-old Kennedy Michael was arrested by the Lagos State Police Command after his 13year-old girl fingered him as being responsible for her pregnancy.
In another sordid case, a 48-year-old father, Adeboye Waheed, was arrested by policemen attached to Zone 2 Command, Onikan, for allegedly defiling his daughter and impregnating her in the process.
It was learnt that the suspect would creep to where his daughter was sleeping on the floor of his one-room apartment and fondled her genitals and on waking her up, inserted his manhood into her to test if she was menstruating.
In Ibadan, Oyo State capital, unable to bear her father’s molestation, an 18-year-old the victim confided in her father’s friend, who raised the alarm and the man, a 45-year-old carpenter, Olumide Akinleye, was arrested and charged to court for having carnal knowledge of his daughter in their one-room apartment. ….
The list of unfortunate girls that have predatory fathers, who rape and abuse their daughters for whatever reasons, is endless. Unfortunately, many people don’t even report these cases because of the shame and fear that the victim might be stigmatized, which is actually the case in a conservative society like ours.
From Nasarawa State comes a much bizarre case, regarding the rape of a teenage girl, Mary, by her father, 44-year-old Viashima Titus Ukegi, who got her pregnant. When asked why he slept with his daughter, Ukegi said he thought he was sleeping with his late wife, Cecilia, who died in 2001while giving birth to Mary.
“I was carried away by her beauty and was feeling bad that one day, somebody will enjoy her, so I decided to take my own share, which, unfortunately, resulted in pregnancy.”
Oftentimes, these evil fathers would even accuse the victim’s daughter of seducing him. Of course, this may not be far from the truth but only a very weak and unworthy father could fall for that temptation. Moreover, what could be seductive about a nine-month-old baby or a three-year-old tot in diapers, and what possible pleasure could she ever give.
Another excuse often given is the influence of drugs and alcohol? Really? It is a wonder that the drunken and drug-crazed dad that bumbles into his daughter’s bedroom and forcefully plunges his shaft into her managed to get home without hugging a speeding trailer on the way. If he could avoid all the dangers on the way, he could also have avoided his daughter’s forbidden fruit.
One of such reasons is that the man might have been a victim of abuse as a child. However, instead of getting healed all these years, why must he desire to perpetuate the evil in his family? The wheel of evil must stop churning.
It is also not in doubt that men cannot endure long abstinence from sex, especially by compulsion. That usually happens when marriages crash. For such men, it would have been better to stay with the troubled marriage than descend into abominable rape of his daughter.
And let’s face it; women must help their men by resisting the temptation to pack out of their homes at the flimsiest opportunity, leaving their vulnerable daughters behind. That daughter may not be safe with the father alone for too long. This is how the man converts his daughter to take up her mother’s role, even in the bedroom.
Women must also ensure that their female children are decently dressed whether at home or outside. Sadly, the devil has stolen many women’s dresses, leaving them scanty and skimpy dresses that could tempt weak-minded men, including delinquent fathers. They should also take time to listen to their daughters when they complain about the inappropriate behaviour of their fathers towards them instead of always shooing them away until the evil deed is done.
For instance, there are irresponsible mothers, such as the 14-year-old victim, who narrated how her mother scolded and warned her seriously not to mention anything like that to anyone after confiding in her that her father raped her in their house at Charismatic Road, Berger, Ikorodu; this made her flee the house. The 58-year-old Johnson Okon was in December 2018, arrested and paraded by the police, in Lagos.
Of course, there are millions of loving fathers, who take good care of them and can never contemplate hurting them. However, there are a few men that are infested by sex and believe in their penile power, which they deploy arbitrarily, even to the abominable act of exploiting their own daughters to their shame.
