A 40-year-old businessman, simply identified as Emeka, who hails from Anambra State, has been arrested by the operatives of Operation Door Akpor for allegedly defiling and impregnating a 12-year-old girl in the Biogbolo community in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
Emeka is married with four children and shuttles between Bayelsa and Anambra states on business trips.
According to the mother of the victim, she was discovered to be seven months pregnant when she fainted due to strange ailments.
The mother said, “The stepmother’s daughter took her to the man before she was violated. She was a virgin, and the man continuously had carnal knowledge of her with threats of death if she told anyone.”
According to the mother, the victim was in her father’s house when the suspect carried out the dastardly act, saying, “She was even forcefully raped by this man in her father’s house.
“When she fainted, I took her to a pharmacy, and a pregnancy test and scan were carried out. It was confirmed that she is pregnant. After telling the mother who was responsible, she later fainted at night, screaming that she was being spiritually attacked.”
In a petition to the Bayelsa State Police Commissioner, CP Francis Idu, a non-profit, the DO Foundation, through its Secretary, Tokoni Queen Dufugha, said the incident had brought pain, trauma, and embarrassment to the victim and her family.
The DO Foundation also sought the immediate transfer of the case to the state police command, as it is a case of defilement.
Speaking on the development, the Founder of DO Foundation and President, National Association of Women Against Gender-Based Violence, Dr. Dise Ogbise Goddy Harry, disclosed that within three days this week, the women’s groups had recorded three cases of sexual abuse on boys and girls and two cases of physical violence on women.
Harry said, “This is heartbreaking, and I wonder where we are heading if some male adults will boldly, without fear of our existing laws, still go ahead to abuse our children and women.
“We are already on the matter, and I am encouraged by the decision of the victim’s family that they will not succumb to any settling of this case.
“For us in the DO Foundation and the National Association of Women Against Gender-Based Violence, all we want is justice for the victim, and that’s where our focus will be, in addition to giving her psychosocio support.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Musa Mohammed, confirmed the incident, saying the matter was under investigation.
Mohammed said, “Yes, I can confirm the incident. It is under investigation.”
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