But for being held down following her inability to pay the hospital fees after giving birth, the unpleasant story of a 13-year-old girl, allegedly raped and impregnated by her guardian, Mr. Sunday Muoghalu might never have gone viral.
Thankfully, the 75-year-old pedophile, Mr. Sunday Muoghalu has been arraigned before the Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Court, in Awka, on three counts of defilement, carnal knowledge, emotional, verbal, and psychological abuse.
Accepting responsibility for the pregnancy and the baby, Muoghalu, added that he was only playing with the victim and never intended to impregnate her.
The teenage mother was rescued by the Anambra State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare after a video showing her with her newborn at a hospital in Adazi-Nnukwu, Anaocha Local Government Area of the state went viral on social media at the weekend. She was detained for her inability to pay her hospital bill.
Consequently, the state government sought her out and took her into safe custody.
The young mother said she is from Akwa Ibom State, while her biological parents lived in Agulu, Anambra State.
Narrating her ordeal, she said her travail started when Muoghalu’s wife, known as Madam Ghana travelled to the village. “I am not the only one involved. There is another girl who is seven years old. Muoghalu used to sleep with her too.
“This started when I began to see my menstruation and he started forcing me to sleep with him. I once told Madam Ghana about it, and she cautioned her husband, but when it continued, I could not do much any longer.”
While ruling on the bail application by defence counsel, the presiding judge, Genevieve Osakwe held that the rate of rape and defilement of minors in the state is alarming; adding that the defendant is old enough to be the grandfather of the complainant.
She further stated that although the defendant’s counsel asked for bail on the grounds of his client suffering from acute diabetes and hypertension, he failed to present any medical report to that effect.
Muoghalu was remanded in prison custody, while the prosecution was directed to forward the case file to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) at the State’s Ministry of Justice so that the matter could be brought before a High Court.
Another 75-year-old man, Isa Nana Okpoku has been arrested by the Nasarawa State Police Command, for allegedly raping his 4-year-old niece in Obi Local Government Area of the state.
Spokesperson of the command, DSP Ramhan Nansel, in a statement on Sunday, December 11, 2022, said police operatives attached to Obi Division arrested the suspect in Daddare Development Area, consequent upon a report that was lodged at the Divisional Police Headquarters on Saturday at about 0800hrs.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect and his niece are both residents in the same house thus, he lured the victim into his room and willfully had unlawful carnal knowledge of her,” the statement read.
“The victim was, however, rushed to the hospital for medical examination where the Doctor confirmed the hymen is broken,”
“The Commissioner of Police, CP Maiyaki Mohammed Baba has ordered a comprehensive investigation into the offence; upon conclusion, the suspect will be charged to a court of competent jurisdiction for prosecution.”
Then as people like Oluwatobi Raji who was raped at age eight by her maternal uncle and who survived rape ten times by ten different persons are rising from the vestiges of their misfortune, by inspiring others through her story and through her nonprofit, Every Child Initiative, a female teacher was arrested days ago in Maiduguri, Borno for allegedly sexually assaulting a four-year-old primary school pupil.
The Father of the victim, Hassan Dala, alleged that the teacher would tuck his daughter inside her veil and then insert her finger into the girl’s private parts. Dala narrated to newsmen that “it happened in Golden Olive Academy, Maiduguri.”
“The Academy is a Nursery and Primary school. The teacher usually put my daughter inside her veil and forced the girl to suck her, while inserting her finger in my daughter’s private part,” the heartbroken father tearfully told newsmen.
“One day, as her mother was bathing her, she complained of pains in her private part, but the mother first ignored it. When the complaints persisted, the mother noticed blood in the child’s urine and called my attention to it. We took her to a private clinic at Bulumkutu, Miyetti Clinic, where a doctor advised us to investigate what happened. An investigation at Umaru Shehu Hospital confirmed intrusion into the child’s private part,” the depressed and aggrieved father disclosed.
He called on Governor Zulum to, in the spirit of the state’s Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act and the Child Tights Act, intervene to ensure justice for his child.
The Borno State coordinator of the National Human Right Commission, Jummai Usman Mshelia, confirmed knowledge of the case. “Teachers in the school were paraded and the pupil pointed at the particular teacher,” Mshelia said.
Mshelia also disclosed that the teacher was alleged to be in the habit of distributing chocolates to the pupils. “And, it was alleged that the teacher used the same bait to lure the child.”
Mshelia said, initially, the police had wanted to file the case at magistrate court but they insisted the case should be taken to the high court for proper prosecution because the medical report had proved penetration.
The Police Public Relations Officer for Borno State Police Command, ASP Sani Kamilu Shatambaya, confirmed the arrest to newsmen in Maiduguri, on Saturday, November 25, 2022.
“The case is with the police and the teacher was arrested, “Shatambaya explained to newsmen on phone, continuing, “We are doing a thorough and objective investigation on the matter, and later refer it to court.”
