A cry for justice: Young woman abandoned and left to suffer with a six year old child after been raped by a Policeman.

SEXUAL EXPLOITATION, MORAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL HUMILIATION IN THE FACE OF POVERTY AND HUNGER OCCASIONED BY A RANDY AND UNREPENTANT LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT (MOHAMMED SANI): A PASSIONATE CRY FOR JUSTICE.

By: UKAN KURUGH
aim(Advocate for the Interest of the Masses)

The mystery of human existence has left so much to be desired, especially the reason as to why, while others have it fair enough with life, others have it tough and rough with the same life. This at times threatens the foundation of the belief in the creator for allowing evil prevail over good for so long a time. The experience of 36 year old Miss Melody Oguamalam has been one of pity, pain, exploitation, poverty, hunger and neglect created by man. Well, no evil deed in my view will go un-remedied. Every harm done by man to man, will be redressed, if not now then later, if not by man then God himself.


An orphan of Imo State origin, particularly from Ozinachi-Okigwe Local Government, Melody is resident in Makurdi, Benue State and has been a petty trader and hawker for survival until her world was crumbled by one Mohammed Sani, a then corporal with the Nigerian Police Force, who in disguise to help her, raped her, got her pregnant, abandoned her, accepted responsibility and refused to do the needful. This happened on the 5th of January, 2010 in his Nyiman resident in Makurdi and has led to the birth of now 6 year old Victor. Poverty and hunger has stared the unfortunate mother and child into the face to the core, even as all efforts to get the randy officer of the NPF with Force No: 390348 do the needful for the upkeep of the mother and child has failed to yield results.

How did it happen? One may be tempted to ask. Miss Melody who was an airtime vendor close to the gate of the Benue State Government House knew the police officer at the same location, hence that was where he was posted for his security duties. They had casual conversations while at the gate and Miss Melody explained her pitiable condition of loss of parents and hardship it has occasioned on her and the fact that her little business was collapsing and how she needed a loan of N30,000 to aid her. The man in the guise of been nice agreed to help and asked Miss melody to meet her at the office on the said day he planned to hatch his evil intentions.

Arriving his office at Police Headquarters, he told her that he had exhausted the money he had on him and that there was money in the house. The woman who was in need followed him to the house where, like a nice guy asked her to come in and immediately she did, quickly locked the door and threw away the keys, telling her how he had always wanted her and now that the opportunity had given way, he must have his way. He forcefully raped her. In pain, anger and frustration, she did not wait for the money again and left in tears and the wicked opportunist could not be kind enough to offer her the money thereafter.

In shame and fear, she kept to herself and refused to open however, and even the only person she opened up to did not help matter, asking her to conceal the act as it was despicable. Unknown to her, she was pregnant and the pregnancy continued to grow. She was a virgin before this happened to her. An elderly woman had observed her looks and suspected pregnancy and urged her for a test, only to realize in March 2010 that she was actually pregnant.

She was faced with humiliation from neighbors and even in her church, she was demoted to occupy the last seat in the church, hence she had brought shame and ridicule to herself and the entire church.
Determined to make her case she met an officer she knew at the Zone 4 Headquarters of the Nigerian Police Makurdi who urged her to write to the Inspector-General of Police through the State Commissioner of Police, sadly at the moment she was informed the man in question had gone for a promotional course. However, he was invited down and he accepted being responsible for the pregnancy and even offered to marry Melody who refused and preferred that, he take care of her and the child. The case was later disposed off as a family matter.

After that effort failed, she approached the State Social Welfare, where the man was given 3 invitations but never showed up, and only came to the vicinity on the third invitation and looked around and went back without entering into any office. It was in this condition that Community Links & Human Development Initiative, a NGO based in Makurdi took up the case and wrote to the state Commissioner of Police, where the Assistant Commissioner of Police who sat on the matter urged Cpl Mohammed Sani to take care of his child and on demanding to know how much he was willing to part away with monthly for the upkeep of the child and it's mother, he said he would be giving them a thousand naira (N1,000). How can a mother and child feed for N1,000 in a month? Later he agreed to pay N3,000 and since then never paid any amount.

In September, hence Melody, a committed Christian defiled the way of other ladies of resorting to abortion for termination of unwanted pregnancies, she preserved her baby and with the care of the Community Links & Human Development Initiative (NGO), she delivered on the 21st day of the month and gave his son the name Victor. At this point, I'd like to commend community Links for their role in the life of Miss Melody. No response was gotten from Mr. Sani while all this happened and painfully, Melody has lost track of her petty businesses due to the conditions she went through. In the face of pain, she made efforts and reached Jireh-Doo Foundation, also in Makurdi, where efforts to get Mohammed Sani do the needful again failed and then she was at Lawyers Alert as well but with all their efforts, nothing still came out. She did not give up but again dragged the case to Human Rights Department at the Police Headquarters, Makurdi where he was again invited and only paid lips service to the situation and thereafter, nothing was forth-coming.

Now young Victor was sent out of the school his mother managed to enroll him in for his mother's inability to make up with the school fees with an outstanding debt of N11,000. This was not all, the rent in her shanty apartment had expired, there was no food for mother and child to survive on. They look really underfed as my photographs of them would reveal. When the man finally came, he took the boy to St. Mary's Primary School, Northbank where he could not pay the entire registration fee and only made part-payment and left again. The boy missed school for the entire session as Miss Melody could not help and after a year, the irresponsible father sent N3,000 for completion of school registration started a year ago and for sewing of uniform, how possible? Miss Melody used the N3000 for feeding of her starved self and her malnourished son. Worst still, this evil man attempted to change Victor's name to Ismaila and used Ismaila during the incomplete registration at St. Mary's. A thing that would later bring identity crises, hence the school authorities believed that, a father's name for his son was more valuable and to be believed than a mother's name.

Since October of 2016 to this moment, Miss Melody and her son, Victor have been starving. She narrated an experience of how, one fate-less day, they resorted to N50 garri for the whole day and how Victor had cried and lamented that he would no longer take garri, that he was tired of it. Their rent has expired since October last year and they have come under heavy pressure from the landlord to park out. Victor is now 6 years old and doesn't go to school, his father who has been transferred from Benue State doesn't care and now no longer takes call from the woman he raped and impregnated to birth the innocent Victor. Their condition is pathetic.

Kind hearted individuals and Nigerians must bring in suggestions that will enhance justice to the suffering innocent mother and child. For me, Mohammed Sani is no longer worthy to put on a police uniform as a law enforcement agent, even as I would plead the law to take its course on him. We owe a responsibility of bringing justice to the poor.
Miss Melody can be reached on mobile: _ 08184558001
I can also be reached on 08069082285 for further verification.

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