The Ogun State Police Command has apprehended a 71-year-old physically challenged man, Richard Odiwe, for allegedly raping a primary six pupil.
It was learnt that the victim, who resides with her grandmother in Ago-Alagbede in the Agbado area of the State, fled home last Tuesday in order to escape being punished by her uncle for unruly behaviour. Odiwe was alleged to have taken the 12-year-old in at his resident at Atila, a neighbouring community, where he allegedly raped her.
Odiwe who had been staying with his younger brother, who is a tenant to the victim’s grandmother was sent packing in 2013 following a discovery that he was allegedly assaulting female children in the community sexually.
PUNCH reports that the 12-year-old, while disclosing what happened, said the septuganrian had been having sleeping with her since 2013, adding that he gives her money any time he defiles her while warning her not to disclose the deed to anybody. She noted that he had sex with her twice during the two days she spent with him.
She said, “He has been having sex with me for a long time. My friends and I would go to beg him for money. He would give us N50 or N200 at times; have sex with us and warn us not to tell anybody.
“My sister told me that my uncle wanted to beat me. Out of fear, I fled home and headed for Baba’s (Odiwe’s) house. I met his daughter in the living room, mopping the floor. I went into the inner room. While the daughter was still busy with domestic chores, he had sex with me.
“When I was asleep on Tuesday night, he touched me. I woke up and told him that I was not interested, but he forced me and had sex with me again. I went out on Wednesday, and was returning to his house in the evening when my sister saw me and took me home.”
Odiwe was nabbed by the police officers from the Agbado Police Division after the incident was reported to a rights group called, CEE-HOPE – Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection.
Confessing to the crime, the septuganarian said the girl tempted him and he “foolishly bought into her advances”.
He further revealed that he intended to take her back home on Wednesday, adding that he only raped her once, though he rebuffed the allegation that he had sex with the victim in the past.
He said, “She and other children in the area would come to me, begging for money. They helped me to wash my clothes because I am incapacitated.
“On Tuesday, I saw Bimbo in my house and she said her uncle wanted to beat her. I wanted to take her back home, but she refused. On Wednesday, I told my daughter that I would take her (Bimbo) home, but she did not come back.
“To be frank because I don’t want to tell lies, she started being funny and pestering me at night. I had sex with her once. The three of us slept on the same mattress, although my daughter was fast asleep then.”
Condemning the spate of rape cases in the country, the Director, CEE-HOPE, Mrs. Betty Abah, called on the government to ensure it enforce anti-rape laws.
“It is appalling that someone in his seventies would find a minor attractive for a sexual relationship. That shows the depravity to which our society is sinking by the day.
“It is time our government at all levels enforced anti-rape laws. It is not enough to have them on paper. They must be enforced to serve as a deterrence to others, or else these sad occurrences will continue,” She said.
The State Police spokesperson, DSP Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the arrest.
“The man has been arrested, but we are still awaiting medical results so that we can properly ascertain whether the girl was raped or not.
“Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police has ordered that the suspect should be transferred to the State Department for Criminal Investigation,” he said.
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