Tackling rapé and séxual abuse in Osun

The incidence of rapé has assumed a frightening proportion in recent times. TUNDE ODESOLA  X-rays this sad development in Osun and Oyo states

 Rapé has assumed a frightening dimension across the country in recent times, questioning the soundness of the human mind and its ability to cope with emerging challenges.

A study conducted by a group of lecturers from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, under the aegis of Women on rapé, séxual harassment and séxual exploitation, came up with alarming results....

The study conducted in Oyo and Osun states in liasion with a non-governmental organisation showed that 80 per cent of girls, before attaining age 18, experience séxual violence and abuse while 31 per cent of girls experience séxual violence and abuse before age 13.

There are two major types of rapé, date rapé and gang rapé. Date rapé is when a man rapés a woman after having spent the evening socially with her, while gang rapé is when several men force a woman to have séx with them.

Addressing a news conference at OAU, Ile-Ife, a few days ago, WARSHE said 80 per cent of 3, 118 students interviewed in a study it conducted had experienced séxual violence and abuse.

The group revealed that it was alarming that rapé and other forms of séxual violence against the girls in the study were perpetrated in the homes of the victims.

WARSHE’s principal researchers, Dr. Olutoyin Mejiuni, and Prof. Oluyemisi Obilade, said some men capitalised on the trust reposed in them to rapé their victims. Mejiuni said, “About 31 per cent of respondents who had experienced séxual violence and abuse had the experience before age 13, and 80 per cent before age 18.

“The assailants who attacked the respondents were their relatives, a few; teachers and religious leaders; family friends, neighbours and male friends. Respondents suffered shame, fear, aches and pains, cuts and injuries especially to their vaginas, bleeding, loss of virginity, pregnancy and ostracism as a result of séxual violence and abuse.”

She explained that girls from high school and tertiary institutions in Oyo and Osun states were interviewed through questionnaires distributed between January and May, 2012. Mejiuni said that the incidence of séxual abuse was more prevalent in urban areas than rural areas, adding that females’ mode of dressing was not an excuse for rapé or séxual violence.

She added that laws against rapé and séxual abuse were not deterrent enough.

“The worry that we have is if rapé and other forms of séxual abuse have become rampant, and children are being rapéd, how many virgins will be left to bring pride to their husbands and rejoicing to their parents?” Mejiuni asked.

The lecturer observed that licentiousness was abhorrent among the Yoruba several years ago, stressing that it was wrong of religious adherents to blame rapé and séxual abuse on dressing by female victims.

Hearing a 15-year-old girl narrate how she was rapéd by two riot policemen in Ilesa, last week, Osun State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs. Adetoun Adegboyega, could not hold back tears. When she opened her mouth to speak, words failed her.

She eventually pulled herself together ans said, “This is terrible and despicable. We must collectively fight this rapé monster in our society. This cannot continue in Osun, the state of the virtuous.”

Adegboyega added, “What is even more shocking is that the cases involved minors who are sexually assaulted by men old enough to be their grandfathers. Or what would you say of 56-year-old raping a 14-year-old?”

One of the various cases of rapé being investigated by the Osun State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare is that of a 16-year-old girl, who was rapéd by five adults in Gbongan community around 8:15pm, on May 20, 2012. Another is the case of a 29-year-old mathematics and social studies teacher, Seun Oyeleke, who was caught pants down with a seven-year-old female pupil in a school toilet.

A Consultant Psychiatrist, Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, Dr. Adeoye Oyewole, gave an insight into why there is an increase in the incidence of rapé across the country. He said, “The high incidence of rapé is a general phenomenon in the country.  It is not synonymous with a particular state or a people. This is because all states of the federation operate within the same socio-economic milieu.” According to him, rapé cases appear to be on the increase because there has been an increase in its reportage in recent times. He added, “Rapé, you will admit, has been with humanity since time immemorial.

“On the other hand, rapé could be said to be on the increase because of the debilitating socio-economic factors militating against Nigerians. This is because many people would engage in drug abuse and alcoholism having been thrown out of jobs. Some people would exhibit anti -social behaviour because of failed marriages, loss of self esteem and loss of self confidence.”

On Tuesday, Bauchi State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Ladan, confirmed the arrest of a policeman who sodomised 10 children, whose ages were between nine and 12 years. Ladan said the suspect was caught in the act and arrested in Kandahar area of the state, adding that the children complained of severe pain in their anuses.

Sometime last month, two armed riot policemen forced a 15-year-old girl in Ayeso Police Barracks, Ilesa, to their room and rapéd her.

As soon as the foster father of the girl contacted the state command on the matter, the state Commissioner of Police, Mrs. Kalafite Adeyemi, ordered the arrest and detention of the suspects.

It was gathered that the girl was passing by Ayeso Police Station, Ilesa, on a Tuesday afternoon, when she was forced by the armed policemen into their apartment beside the police station.

Police Public Relations Officer, Osun State Command, Mrs. Sade Odoro, said, “They (the policemen) cannot escape because this is a disciplined command. They were arrested immediately and they have been transferred to Osogbo. They will be diligently prosecuted.”

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the victim’s foster father said, “She couldn’t disclose her ordeal to her elder sister, who is my wife; she rushed to her biological parents’ apartment in Isale General Area of Ilesa, kept to herself and was weeping uncontrollably. It was after my wife cajoled her that she opened up.”

An observant mother, Mrs. A. Ajiboye, smelt a rat when she heard of the closeness between her five-year-old daughter and her lesson teacher, Seun Oyeleke.

“My son had told me that the teacher was fond of taking his sister to the toilet. I revealed my suspicion to my brother, who is a policeman and we devised a plan,” she said.

She secretly told her seven-year-old son to rush home and notify her whenever the teacher takes his younger sister to the toilet. Expatiating, the shocked mother said, “At about 11:30am on Saturday, my son rushed in to inform me that the teacher had taken another girl to the toilet. I quickly rushed to the school, went to the toilet and forced the door open. I met him on top of the little child. I was very furious and I began to shout and wail. I called on neighbours to come and see what was happening. He was subsequently taken to Dugbe Police Station in Osogbo.”

The hapless little girl said, “He took me to the bathroom in the building and removed my pant and lay on me.”

Pleading for mercy at the police station, Oyeleke said, “Please, spare me; I didn’t know what came over me. The effect of what I did just dawned on me. I did not rapé them. I only had séx with them. It’s the devil’s work.”

The girl was taken to police clinic at Oke-Fia, Osogbo, where a medical officer attended to her. The medical officer, who chose to be anonymous, said the teacher did not penetrate the vagina of the girl, adding that his organ, however, had an impact on her pubic area.

A few weeks ago, an Osogbo magistrate’s court remanded five persons, Nurudeen Jimoh (20), Tunde Akorede (19), Mutiu Yusuf (19), Sikiru Amusan (21), and Wasiu Ayoola (19), in prison custody for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl in Gbongan community. According to the charge sheet, the accused allegedly conspired, assaulted and rapéd the teenager on May 20, 2012, around 8:15pm in Gbongan, Osun State. Magistrate Adewunmi Makanjuola ordered the accused to be remanded in Ilesa prisons.

Last week, the same Magistrate sentenced a 56-year-old man, Samuel Olatoke, to 14 years imprisonment for raping a 14-year-old girl in Abodua Compound, Osogbo, on June 11, 2012. 

In his ruling, Makanjuola said it was evident before the court that the accused committed the offence without the consent of the girl. A female member, National Youth Service Corps, had accused a monarch of raping her in Osogbo, last year. The case, at an Osogbo High Court, has generated reactions. The traditional ruler had persistently maintained that he got the consent of the lady before having séx with her but the lady had insisted that she was rapéd by the monarch.

On curtailing the incidence of rapé, Oyewole said both the family and government have roles to play in the fight against rapé.

He said, “The family has a big role to play in stemming the tide of rapé. Male family members, even fathers, should show decorum when entering the rooms of their daughters, who have reached purberty stage. The extended family setting could be negatively exploited by distant relatives. So, parents should guard against this by ensuring that their daughters are safe from séxual abuse.”

He also advised females to be careful about their acquaintances and urge family units to do a lot more about children’s dress sense. At the government level, he advocated for more stringent sanctions for culprits.