BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
After being allegedly defiled by 29-year-old Joseph Ajiboye, a 12-year-old girl (name withheld) has been reportedly prevailed upon to pardon her abuser and drop the rape case being pressed against him.
The minor, a resident of Oluokun area of Erin-Osun, Irepodun South LCDA of Osun State, was allegedly defiled by Ajiboye on Friday, June 18.
It was learnt that the suspect, also a resident of Erin-Osun, had been known to the minor long before the incident occurred. Report had it that Ajiboye lured the junior secondary school student, which he sent on an errand, into an old one-storey building near the United Primary School, Erin-Osun, and forcefully defiled her around 7:30pm on the fateful day.
According to the elder sister of the victim, who preferred not be named because of fear of victimisation, the unsuspecting girl and her mates were playing under a tree in front of her house on the day. Ajiboye reportedly came to the place and asked her to buy a recharge card for him.
The young lady said, “That evening, my sister (victim) and her friends were playing under the tree in front of the house. Ajiboye went there to send her to buy a recharge card. She obliged and went to buy the card for him. After she had gone on the errands, he told the other girls that she should bring the card to him in the house when she returns.
“After the incident, my sister broke the news of how Ajiboye dragged her into the building, covered her mouth and violently raped her. She said efforts by her sister to call for help failed as he covered her mouth with a pillow. Her private part was soiled with blood. She was taken to Alafia Lagba Hospital at Erin Osun for treatment.”
When The Point visited the hospital, the medical director, Taofeek Olaniyi, confirmed the incident, saying that the minor was brought to his hospital for treatment after being defiled.
According to him, on examination, blood stains and injuries were seen on her private part.
Olaniyi disclosed that he was interrogated by police officers at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Osogbo. “I have sent a report to the SCID and I have also spoken with them,” he added.
The Point learnt that Ajiboye was arrested by the police shortly after the incident was reported at Erin-Osun Police Division. The suspect was said to have been detained at the station before the case was transferred to the SCID, Osogbo.
However, investigation by The Point revealed that the family of the suspected rapist mounted pressure on the family of the minor whom he reportedly violated.
The victim’s elder sister told The Point that there was friction as some members of Erin Osun community visited the victim’s mother, a native of Ilobu, to persuade her to forgive Ajiboye at all costs. According to her, those mounting pressure on her mother pledged that they would foot the medical bill of the assaulted girl.
“Some elders in this community came to persuade my mother to let go of the matter. My stepfather also threatened that he would file for divorce if she didn’t allow the matter to be put to rest. Our own father is from Ilobu; our mother is a divorcee. So, the people of Erin-Osun are trying to prevail on my mother to let the matter die despite our agony. The people insisted that Lekan (Ajiboye) must not go to jail.
“They went to the police station to release him (Lekan) on bail. They paid N40,000 hospital bill. There is nothing we can do because they have connection,” she said.
The Point gathered that the victim and her mother had jettisoned the matter after being prevailed upon to let go of the case.
Efforts by a civil society organization, Compassion Against Rape, to secure justice for the minor who was assaulted has yet to be fruitful as the Convener of the NGO, Lola Wey, who visited the police station at Erin-Osun told The Point that the police had said that the case could not be pressed against the suspect because the victim and her mother failed to show up.
It was also gathered that the victim and her mother did not show up when the Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs in Osun State, Olubukola Olaboopo, invited them for a meeting on the matter.
It was gathered that the case became deadlocked as a result of the resolve by the victim’s mother to protect her marriage by dropping the case.
“My mother’s whereabouts has not been known in the last two days. I don’t know where she is up till now. I’m getting fed up with the matter. Since her new husband insisted that she must not pursue the case, she has been compelled to do away with it,” the victim’s elder sister said.
According to the police, Ajiboye was released on administrative bail following the alleged disappearance of the victim and her mother who are complainants in the case.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Yemisi Opalola, who confirmed the development, said the suspect would be arrested again if the complainants (victim and her mother) showed interest in pursuing the case.
“However, we cannot continue to detain the suspect perpetually. He has been released on administrative bail and will be arrested if the suspect shows up any moment,” Opalola said.
Meanwhile, the NGO has decried the alleged intimidation of the victim and her mother. Wey said, “The victim gets no justice as a result of intimidation of her mother and the entire family.
“My advice to members of the community is to stop harassing rape survivors and their family members in their attempt to seek and get justice. Rape is a serious crime, not only against the victim/survivor, but against humanity. Rapists should be jointly dealt with in order to stamp out the crime in our society.”
Wey also expressed reservations against the state government’s attitude to rape, noting that the officials of the state who were saddled with the responsibility appeared overwhelmed.
“Government’s attitude to issues of rape and child molestation cannot be said to be desirable.
It seems that the officers saddled with the function are already overwhelmed with other activities and do not seem properly equipped to follow rape/child molestation cases to a logical conclusion for desirable result.”
Efforts to interview the victim’s mother and her husband proved abortive as they could not be reached at the time of filing this report.
