LAGOS — Emotion ran high, Wednesday, at the Oduduwa office of the Lagos
State Police Public Relations Officer, Ikeja, following a startling revelation
by a seven-year-old girl of how her father had been having carnal knowledge of
her since she was six.
Aside this, her 49-year-old father, Sylvester Ehijire, who was paraded
before newsmen, was also alleged to have had carnal knowledge of his one-year,
three month-old grand daughter, in their one-room apartment, 13, Kolawole
Street, Ejigbo.
The seven-year-old girl (names withheld) told a bewildered crowd that
her father usually committed the sacrilege whenever her mother was away.
According to the primary three pupil,“every time my mother was not at
home, my father will call me, dip his finger into my anus and his manhood
inside my virgina. He would then promise to buy me biscuit and toy cars if I
did not tell anybody. There is no Sunday that he did not do it.”
He threatened to blind me if I tell my mother
Asked why she did not tell her mother, she replied: “Anytime I wanted
to tell my mother, he would hold my mouth and remind me of the things he
promised me. But I would challenge him that he had never bought any of the
things for me. At times when he finished and I threatened to tell my
mother, he would tell me he would pluck out my eyes if I told
anyone.
“Sometimes, he would even beat me whenever I attempted to open my mouth
and also beat my mother with cane.”
Her 45-year-old mother, Mrs Ehijire, who hails from Iseleuku,
DeltaState, corroborated her daughter’s claim, disclosing that the abominable
act became known in 2006 when her first child, (now married) informed her that
her father had been having carnal knowledge of her.
“I travelled to Abuja for a catering job because I am a caterer. At
about 1 a.m that fateful day, my daughter called me to say she had just been
raped by her father. Then, she was 17 years old. I had to leave the job and
travel back to Lagos the next day. I informed my husband’s parents but
all of a sudden my in-laws turned against me, saying I was lying.
“This continued until I could no longer bear it. I had to leave the
house with my children in 2007. But I came back in 2011, after entreaties by my
in-laws.
“Since then, I did not know he was still doing it until my
seven-year-old daughter told me, saying he even threatened to blind her if she
opened up to anyone.
“When I confronted him, he started beating me. I went to his family members
at Okota to report again but they did not do anything.
“The height of the abominable act happened last Wednesday after when I
returned home to meet my one-year three-month-old grand-daughter crying.
“In a bid to pacify the baby, I took her to the backyard for a bath
only to discover that her pampers were stained with blood and semen.
“At that point, I screamed and alerted my co- tenants. That was the
last straw. I quickly rushed to the Ejigbo police station to report the case.”
Asked why she did not make an effort to protect her female children
against such abuse, she explained that after reconciling with her husband in
2007, she usually left her daughter and grand-daughter in a creche until her
return at about 6 p.m.
She said: “I gave a clear instruction to the proprietress never to
allow anyone pick the children but me. But last Wednesday, I was told my
husband went there and requested to pick them. Even when they resisted, he
picked quarrel with them,asking if he had no right to pick his children.
“When I asked my seven-year-old daughter what happened thereafter, she
told me that on reaching home, the father sent her and her elder brother who is
nine to go and buy bread. She said when they returned, they met the net-door
locked.
“While they were waiting for their father to open the door, the baby
was yelling inside. Neighbours at this point became suspicious because they
were aware of his antecedents. They started banging on the door.
“When my husband opened the door, they said he was sweating. One of
them asked him to bring the baby and he did. They tried to pacify her to no
avail. Can you imagine that my baby started crying from 3 p.m until 6 p.m when
I returned.”
Medical test
To ascertain the claim, policemen at Ejigbo reportedly took both
children to the hospital where the medical result made available to journalists
showed that both of them had their hymen broken.
While the report of the seven-year-old read: “normal virginal and
vulva, broken hymen (dis-virgined), that of the one-year three month-old baby
read: “ bruised perineum, hymen broken, absent.”
My wife is lying – Accused
But when approached, Ehijire who hails from Uhumwonde area of EdoState,
denied the claim, saying it was a mere ploy by his wife to ruin him.
He said: “She is only doing this because I am jobless. I used to be a
truck driver. But when the truck engine had problem, I started staying at home.
This was exactly what happened to our first daughter who is now married. My
wife told the children to lie against me. I did not do it.
“What happened was that last Wednesday, I was at home when my two
children came back from school. I told them to show me the creche where the
baby was kept and I went to bring her, with the hope that I was helping my
wife.”
He, however, told Vanguard in confidence that “I swear I did not
know what is wrong with me. I believe this is not real. I believe something
above the natural is using me to achieve its devilish purpose.”
A mild drama, however, ensued when all of a sudden his wife
started pleading on his behalf, after she over-heard the command’s
spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, briefing journalists on the legal implication of
the man’s act if he is found culpable.
At that point, Mrs Ehijire said she did not want her husband dead. “If
he dies it will affect me as well. I want him to be dealt with and not be
killed,” she said.
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