12-yr-old pupil serially molested by 63-yr-old HIV positive in Suleja

It is not only me, Papa Ezinne was also ‘doing the thing’ with her – Chinedu confesses

Men of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested a 63-year-old mason, Mr. Emmanuel Nwachukwu alleg­edly living with Human Immu­nodeficiency Virus (HIV) over serial abuse of a 12-year-old pri­mary school pupil in Suleja.

Nwachukwu who is now cooling his heels in police deten­tion was alleged to have abused the underage almost every day for more than half a year.

The mason who was alleged­ly medically certified to be HIV positive was said to be sharing the girl with another 31-year old man, Mr Andrew Chinedu.

The trio of Nwachukwu, Chinedu and the parents of the underage girl are all living in a big compound as tenants.

Both Nwachukwu and Chin­edu, according to police reports tossed the girl to each other without the knowledge of her mother.

The mother of the underage girl was said to have been alert­ed by a vigilant neighbour who caught them red-handed sever­ally before the girl broke down in tears to confess what she had been silently battling for almost six months and the reason why she could not open up.

She however said that some­times, they used condom before making love with her.

The girl had specifically told the parents that the men who had ravaged her serially had told her she would die if she con­fessed the act to anybody includ­ing her biological parents.

The girl also made the same claim to the police. It is not cer­tain if the girl had contracted HIV from the serial abuse.

But the police told the AU­THORITY on Saturday that the initial test conducted on her showed that she was negative.

The police said that the test would be re-conducted later to ascertain her real status.

How Nwachukwu was exposed

The bubble burst last Mon­day, May 17, 2016 when a neigh­bour alerted the mother of the sexually abused girl about the development in the compound.

The mother of the molested girl told The AUTHORITY on Saturday that her neighbour, Nwachukwu was able to take ad­vantage of her daughter because she thought he was genuinely caring for her.

Hear her: “Papa Ezinne has been very nice to my daughter. He gives food and money, some­times to my daughter and I have always thanked him.

“Sometimes, when she comes back from school, she stays with him and he cares for her. I never knew a 63-year-old man can be having carnal knowledge of a 12-year-old girl. I would not have known but for a neighbour that alerted me.

“Specifically, on Monday evening, May 17, 2016, the good Samaritan and neighbour came to the corridor of my apartment and said he had something to discuss with me. He told me that he had something to discuss with me in respect of my daughter (name withheld).

“He said he had discovered in recent times that my daughter was having an affair with some­one in the compound. But I dis­missed him with the wave of the hand.

“I told him that such a thing could not have taken place owing to the fact that the small girl is about rounding off her primary education. But he advised me to put an eye on her,” she narrated.

The mother of the girl said that though she found it difficult to believe the story, she said she reflected on the information and decided to confront her daughter over it.

According to her, “I woke my daughter up from sleep at 1am on Monday, May 17 and confronted her with the information.

“To my dismay, she con­fessed to me that Papa Ezinne (Nwachukwu) had been mak­ing love to her since December, 2015. She also told me that Nwa­chukwu warned her not to tell me.

“My daughter said, ‘Papa Ezinne used to use condom on me whenever we return from school. He warned me not to tell anyone including you (Mum­my)’. She said Chinedu started doing the same thing to her,” the mother recounted.

She said that immediately the day broke, she went to the “A” divsion police station in Suleja to report the matter.

Hear her: “I called the police but it was only Chinedu that was available for arrest.

“He was immediately arrest­ed. But while giving his confes­sional statement to the police, he said he was not the only person involved in the act.

“He said Papa Ezinne was in fact the ringleader. The police have succeeded to arrest Nwa­chukwu (Papa Ezinne) and both suspects are now in detention,” she said.

When asked on her assess­ment of the police in the handling of the matter, Mrs. Abu (not real name) told our correspondent that the Investigative Police Of­ficer (IPO) was trying her best in investigating the matter.

She however added: “I have spent about N15,000 on medi­cal reports’ bills. My worry now is that I have been asked by the police authorities to pay for the transportation of the suspects to the Niger State Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Minna.

“I’m only managing with my children. I appeal to the Niger State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abubakar Marafa to inter­vene in this matter and bring the suspects who have destroyed my daughter’s life to book”, she wept.

When The AUTHORITY on Saturday visited the “A” Division where the matter is being inves­tigated, the Divisional Police Of­ficer (DPO) in charge of the Area Command, Mr. Francis Ekanem confirmed the case, adding that the suspects would be ferried to the state CID in Minna upon the conclusion of preliminary investi­gations.

Ekanem however added: “We have no vehicle to convey the suspects to Minna, but I will vol­unteer my personal car while the victim’s mother will be respon­sible for the fuelling of the car which will cost N13,000.”

Although our correspondent did not have the opportunity of interviewing the suspects, he was however given access to their confessional statements.

According to Chinedu, in his statement, he allegedly admitted to have committed the crime.

His words: “I have had sev­eral affairs with the girl. But she was the one who demanded for it,” Chinedu said.

In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, the Ni­ger State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Bala Elkana, debunked the Suleja DPO’s posi­tion of non-availability of utility vehicle to convey the suspects for further investigation and trial to Minna.

Elkana said: “What the Suleja DPO said in respect of non-availability of utility vehicle to convey the suspects to Minna is totally untrue. Suleja is just an hour’s drive to Minna. So, why would he say such a thing,” he queried.

Explaining further, the PPRO said: “In fact, we have an Assault Victim Trauma Centre where rape-related issues are handled. The trauma which was built with the intervention of the British Government is fully furnished with all the necessary facilities to help rape victims and their families overcome the emo­tional and psychological trauma that is associated with such crimes. Rape victims and their families are often well taken care of by our team of experts who are at the centre. I will find out from the DPO on how the matter is being handled,” Elkana said.

Further investigations by our correspondent revealed that the 63-year-old rapist, Nwachukwu is HIV positive.

It was revealed from the po­lice medical reports so far con­ducted that the rape victim test­ed negative to the deadly virus as well as the pregnancy test carried out on her.