No one could have imagined that
16-year-old Gloria (not real name) was just two weeks away from the
delivery of a child on September 3, 2014.
“I noticed her neck was full and darker,
those were the only signs I saw. So, I asked if she was pregnant. Her
expression and answer showed she had no idea she was indeed pregnant,” a
neighbour who unravelled the mystery of the pregnancy told Saturday PUNCH.
Gloria, a year one senior secondary
school student, lives with his married brother unaware that she was
about to become a mother. But buried deeply in the girl’s heart was a
painful secret she had never told a soul.
The inquisitive neighbour was
unconvinced. She approached Gloria’s sister-in-law, who also expressed
the same concern that she was afraid the girl might be pregnant.
“The sister-in-law had even taken the
girl to the hospital and had her urine tested for pregnancy. But the
test was negative. But I insisted we take her back to hospital for a
blood test instead. I even had to pay for that,” the neighbour, who
pleaded anonymity, said. The test result was positive. Gloria was
pregnant.
With threats, pleading and persuasion,
Gloria’s brother, Obi, tried to get the truth about who was responsible
out of Gloria, but the little girl was too afraid to tell the truth.
Saturday PUNCH decided to
withhold the identity of the girl and those of her relations because she
is still a minor according to provisions of the Lagos State Child
Rights Law, 2007.
The same neighbour, who had been friends
with the family for some years, eventually got the girl to tell the
truth, which shocked the girl’s brother.
When our correspondent spoke with Gloria
on Thursday, there was no sign that she could have been the mother of
the child she held in her arms.
Timid and innocent, she looked at the
floor as she spoke softly, delving into the account of a sexual abuse
she had gone through in the last five years.
When Gloria’s brother brought her to
Lagos seven years ago from their village in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, it
was to give her a semblance of a better life, different from the
pathetic one she was said to be living in. Their mother had just died at
the time, while their aged father back in the village was not doing too
well financially.
“She was living with me along with some of my friends at the time. Things were still rough for me and I was single.” Obi said.
Not long after this, Obi’s good friend
from Anambra State, a trader living in Mangoro area of Lagos named
Ugochukwu Okparanta, said he would take over the care of the girl to
ease the financial burden off his friend while the girl would help his
wife with house chores.
“I was nine when I started living with
Uncle (Okparanta). But two years after I got there, he started raping
me,” Gloria began. “He started one day when I was washing plates and he
started to touch me in the private part and breast.”
Okparanta
The girl became tearful. Her voice shook
and trailed off. But our correspondent assured her that she was not
going to be in trouble of any kind by telling her story. Then she
continued.
“He started by petting me, telling me I
would like it. I refused and became afraid. Then he threatened me. He
would tell me that I would be in trouble if I did not do what he
wanted,” Gloria said.
Asked why she could not report the problem to her brother, the girl said she thought nobody would believe her.
“If I told Madam (Okparanta’s wife), she
would say I lied against her husband,” Gloria explained. Then came one
night, while her boss’ wife slept in the couple’s room, Okparanta
sneaked out to the room Gloria shared with his own daughter, an older
girl.
She said, “He told me to follow him to
the sitting room. I obeyed. He raped me and while he did it, I was about
to scream, but he covered my mouth with his hand very tightly. I was
bleeding when he finished and I became more scared but he smiled and
said the blood was normal.
“After that, he would rape me almost
every night. Madam did not know anything. Anytime I refused, Uncle would
threaten to deal with me. There was a day I refused and when I greeted
him the following day, he did not answer me.
“He reported me to his wife that I had become pompous in his house and that I no longer greeted him.”
This sexual abuse would continue for
four years, according to the girl, until 2013 when his brother got
married and brought her back to help around the house.
However, in January 2014, the sexual abuse the girl had kept secret and thought was over would come back to haunt her.
“His wife had just had a miscarriage and
I was sent to go and help her for a few days. But in the afternoon,
when his children had gone to school, he dragged me to his children’s
room and raped me,” Gloria said.
Few days before that day, our
correspondent learnt that Gloria’s brother had even gone to his
‘magnanimous’ friend, bearing a bottle of wine, to thank him for taking
care of his sister over the years.
“I did not know in my wildest dream that the man I see as my friend would do such a terrible thing to my sister,” he said.
Nobody knew what damage had been done
until September 2014 when the symptoms of pregnancy started to manifest
in the girl’s body.
“She is one of those people who could be
pregnant and her flat tummy would not make anyone suspicious. I thought
that if she was pregnant, it would be in early stages and could be
aborted. I had no idea that she would deliver in a few days,” the
neighbour told our correspondent.
The day Gloria gave birth, the girl who
knew nothing about motherhood was in labour for hours in her room and
thought she was having a stomach ache.
She only screamed when her water broke, it was learnt. But she had a crisis-free delivery and gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
“I have never had sex with any other boy before. I can swear on my life,” she said.
When Gloria’s angry brother and other relations confronted Okparanta with the rape allegation, he denied initially.
“He later admitted that he slept with her only once,” Obi said.
When Saturday PUNCH spoke with Okparanta on the phone, he initially went from feigning ignorance to outright denial.
But when he was asked why he sent a
cheque of N50,000, to the girl’s brother, he hesitated a little and
admitted he raped the girl once.
“It is a lie that I started sleeping with her since she was 11. Even last year, I did not sleep with her,” Okparanta said.
“Yes, I gave her brother a cheque because they were accusing me that I was responsible,” he continued.
But did he think he could be responsible since he has admitted sleeping with the girl?
He said, “I only slept with her once in
January and she was not a virgin at the time. That was the last time I
did it. I was not the first person to sleep with her. I am not the one
that deflowered her.
“I was sleeping in the sitting room at
the time. I just felt someone touching me. I just did not know how I
slept with her after that. I hated her since then.”
Our correspondent asked if it was true
that he and his wife had accused the girl of being possessed, Okparanta
said, “I did not know what came over me that made me sleep with her. I
told his brother after the incident that he should take her to a church
for deliverance.”
He told our correspondent that he did not tell his friend that he ever slept with his sister.
“No, I did not. I just hated the girl
and felt she should not have made me to do such a bad thing. I am
currently discussing with the family to see how we can take care of the
baby if indeed I am responsible.”
Child rights activist, Esther Ogwu, who
had taken up the case, said taking responsibility for the care of the
child was just a first step.
Ogwu, who is the Executive Director of
Esther Child Rights Foundation, said, “We are working to ensure that
justice is done in this matter. But the welfare of the mother and child
is paramount. We are taking the matter to the police, who will invite
Okparanta for interrogation.
“But it is necessary for families to be
wary of the environment where children they put children they bring to
Lagos from their villages. Many of such children often times are abused
by adults who take advantage of their ignorance and innocence.”
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