A 16-year-old girl (name withheld) has told an Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court of how her 43-year-old biological father, Emmanuel Odega, allegedly defiled her on several occasions on the beach.
The survivor said this while being led in evidence by state prosecution counsel Ms Bukola Okeowo, that before the incident, her mother had relocated to South Africa in 2014.
She affirmed before the court her father had been having sex with her at the age of 14.
She further said that the defendant told him that the “holy spirit” instructed him to have sexual intercourse with her.
“I was 14 years old when the incident happened. It initially started with him touching my body. When I noticed this, I moved my body from him. I told my twin brother about it the next morning but he shunned me and did not believe me.
“The next day, he had sex with me that very night. I could not shout or do anything because my father threatened me. He continued to do so after we moved from where we were and we relocated to a wooden short let in Badore, Ajah.
“At this point, it became an issue because he had sex with me almost every time on the beach,” she said.
The witness also said that her father once told her that the “holy spirit” instructed him to have sexual intercourse with her.
“There was a night he woke me up and told me that the holy spirit told him to have sex with me. I thought he was pulling my legs but when he realised I was not ready to submit myself, that was when he forcefully had sex with me.
“There was also a time my father had issues with his girlfriend. He woke me up and took me to the kitchen to have sex with me. I dare not make any sound because he threatened to kill me. The reason I could not tell my mother”.
She said her father and mother communicated once in a while but they mostly ended up in a fight.
She narrated that her father, who later took her and her twin brother to his girlfriend’s place in Chevron in the Lekki area to live with her, also had sex with her in her house.
She said her father had asked her to pack out of his girlfriend’s house at midnight but she objected which led to the intervention of neighbours.
“I saw him at my back at midnight telling me to pack my things and that I will leave the house that day. As I was packing, I was scared he might have sex with me again so I locked the door inside.
“After some intervention from the landlord, I opened the door. He took my bag and dragged me out. It was from there I started shouting for help.
“Some boys in the neighbourhood came out and confronted him about where he was taking me to at the time of the night.
“He told them he is my father and that I will not stay in that house again. It was the time I explained to the other old man that my father has been having sex with me for almost one year.
The survivor said the old man called the estate chairman the following morning. The man asked if I wanted to pursue the case and I told him yes.
She said she had told her father’s girlfriend, Aunty Gloria, in April 2021 who later got in contact with her mother on Facebook and informed her about the incident.
“The case was later reported at Langbasa Police Station in Ajah after that it was transferred to State Command. I later went to Gender Police Station and they took me to Mirabel Medical Centre where various tests were carried out. I also went to Domestic Sexual Violence Response Agency (DSVRA) for counselling,” she said.
In his testimony, Dr Oyedeji Alagbe, a forensic examiner at Mirabel Centre told the court that he carried out a medical report on their survivor on 28th June 2021.hhhhh
He said his findings showed no fresh injuries to the vagina but that the examination showed that the survivor has had repeated forceful vagina penetration.
Justice Ramon Oshodi adjourned the case until 6th June 6 for the continuation of the trial.