Ademe
THE 12-year-old girl, identified simply
as Queen, who was allegedly raped serially by her father, Bamekpa, with
her four-month-old pregnancy crudely aborted, has said she could not
count the number of times Bamekpa allegedly forcibly had canal knowledge
of her.
There has been public outrage against
the incident, which occurred at Imiringi, Ogbia Local Government Area,
Bayelsa State, since it was reported by The Nation, with many people
calling for Bamekpa’s arrest and prosecution.
Although the suspect was said to have
been arrested and detained at the Criminal Investigation Department
(CID) of the state police command, there were indications that the
police had not taken the matter further.
The statement of the abused girl was yet to be taken at press time, while the police
was yet to meet officially with
Operation Rescue (OR), the non-governmental organisation (NGO) handling
the matter. Other persons indicted in the crime had also not been
arrested.
But Queen relived her ordeal in the
hands of her father and called on the Inspector-General of Police,
Solomon Arase, to step in and facilitate the process of bringing the man
to justice.
“I want my father to be thrown into
prison”, the traumatised SS1 student said. “I feel pained that a man I
called my father used me many times to satisfy his sexual urge.”
She said each time her father came, she
would cry and beg him to stop but he would not listen to her. She said
on one occasion, her father beat her to submission before forcing
himself into her.
Narrating how it all started in 2015,
she said: “He started sleeping with me in 2015. The first time he did
it, I was in my room reading when he came in. He asked me the kind of
school I would like to go. Then he came close to me. “When I stood up to
go, he asked me to wait and started touching me all over my body. I
asked him what he was doing but he told me to keep quiet and immediately
pushed me into the bed. “He tied my hands backwards. When he saw that I
was shouting, he covered my mouth with his hand, He started doing it
increasingly from that time. I always cried and begged him to leave me
but he would not listen.” She said she was afraid to discuss her ordeal
with anybody because her father threatened to kill her if she did. She,
however, said the bubble burst when she began to show signs of
pregnancy.
She said: “When I became pregnant, I
didn’t know. My stepmother saw the signs and suspected that I was
pregnant. It was when she began to ask me who impregnated me that I told
her. I learnt she has moved out of the house.”
The teenager said her life became more
traumatic when her father allegedly commenced the process of aborting
the pregnancy. She said the method was crude and opened a chapter of
health problems in her life.
She said: “My father, seeing that I was
pregnant, took me to do an abortion. He took me to Elebele and handed me
over to his female friend named Peace, who took me to a house in
Otu-Aba. “They did not allow me to see the process, but I saw the
instruments. It was very painful. After that day, I started bleeding
because he didn’t abort the pregnancy completely. I was taken back to
Otu-Aba on December 5 and from there, we went to Otu-Asiga to flush the
remaining one. “I discovered later that my body system had been messed
up. I noticed I was no longer menstruating. It was just recently that I
was taken to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) where an operation was
done on me with something like a container inserted into me. They called
it a minor operation. I went back to FMC on Thursday to remove the
container.”
Queen said she could no longer go to
school because of the problems created by her father. “I feel very bad. I
want the police oga (police boss) to put him in prison. He has been
doing similar things to many people,” she said.
Queen’s nephew, David Apigi, who
reported the matter to Operation Rescue, asked the police to speedily
and diligently prosecute the matter. He confirmed that her niece went
through an operation at FMC.
He said: “The operation was done on her
private part and a container was inserted into her. She went back on
Thursday to have the container removed,” he said.
The Coordinator, Operation Rescue,
Princess Elizabeth Egbe, said the police had promised to effect the
arrest of other suspects after taking Queen’s statement. She said the
Officer in Charge, Family Unity, Edith Washington, said the statement of
the violated girl would be taken after her medical check.
She, however, said the NGO had no
suspicion that the police were trying to sweep the matter under the
carpet until they failed to effect arrest and commence prosecution
within a reasonable time frame.
She said initially, the policemen in
charge of the case said they had no money to go to the crime scene. She,
however, said the police commissioner later made a financial provision
for them to go there.
She said: “The police said they would
commence the arrest of suspects after they get the girl’s statement
today after her medical checks. They have not got the statement of the
girl. “I don’t have any suspicion that the police are trying to hide the
matter. The police said the suspect is in the state CID but we have not
sighted him. The police have not been able to invite us officially for a
meeting. “For now, I cannot hold them till after she has given her
statement. The police said they didn’t have money to go to the crime
scene but the commissioner made a provision for them to go there. If
they failed to arrest the doctor and the lady, we will commence our
campaign.”
Further lamenting her condition,
27-year-old Joy, who said she was raped serially by Bamekpa when she was
between six and seven years old, appealed to the police to diligently
handle the matter and ensure that justice is served.
Recalling the second time the suspect
raped her, she said: “While I was playing with other children, he called
me and asked me to go to his room and get pineapple. When I went to his
room, he came in and shut the door. He held me and pushed me into his
bed.
“While I was shouting, he was laughing
at me, boasting that even if I shouted with all my energy, nobody would
come and rescue me. I shouted but nobody came.”
When contacted, the Public Relations
Officer (PRO) of the Bayelsa State Command of the Nigeria Police Force,
Butswat Asinim, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said the matter
was being handled by the police. He assured that the matter would not
be swept under the carpet, particularly because it involves sexual abuse
of a minor.
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