•forced to spend N300,000 on cleansing
ritual
•I told her to take money offered by suspect – Prosecutor
For the last five years, 30-year-old Bassey Victor, has been
working as a barber in a shop along Raji Oba, Iyana Ipaja area of
Lagos.
For those five years, Rachael’s husband and three of her four
children have been part of his loyal customers.
They referred to him as their family barber.
Rachael (not real name) is a trader married to a Delta State
indigene, a businessman who often travelled for days, entrusting
the care of the home and children in the hands of his wife.
But sometime in March, while her husband travelled out of Lagos
for work, she became a victim of a heinous crime she could not have
imagined would ever happen to her.
Rachael sounded strong initially, as she told our correspondent
her story in the office of the Esther Child Rights Foundation she
had run to for help.
But midway into her story, her strong façade cracked, spilling
out the evidence of her trauma. She cried. The tears spilled out in
torrents.
Rachael did not have to explain all the physical and
psychological trauma that had been brought upon her since that
afternoon in March. Her expression alone told a million
stories.
She said, “He (Bassey) was so familiar with my family that he
once even approached my husband, pleading with him to open a
barber’s shop for him.
“Around December, my husband took his clipper to the barber to
have a haircut and it seemed it did not work well. He left it with
Bassey to have it repaired. I asked for the clipper back because it
had been there for too long and he said he needed money for the
repairs. My husband gave him the money.
“Sometimes, when I took my three boys there to have a haircut, I
would leave them with him. He would cut their hair and send them
home.
“There was a time I noticed an infection on the head of one of
them and I asked if he was using our clipper but the children said
they did not know.
“I then asked Bassey for the clipper. He gave some excuses that
it still did not work well after the repair. The last time I asked,
that day in March, he told me that the clipper was at home.”
Bassey, who lived a short distance from his shop, allegedly told
Rachael that he had something to do along his residence and he
could stop by and get her the clipper.
Since she had insisted on getting back the clipper that day,
Rachael said she followed Bassey to his house.
It was about 1pm on a Friday.
“When we got to the house, I stayed at the entrance as he went
inside. His younger brother was at home. While I waited outside, he
spoke in their dialect to his younger brother. The boy then went
out.
“While I stood, he was going about as if he was trying to locate
the clipper. His younger brother lingered around outside too. He
then spoke to the boy again in their dialect. The boy suddenly
pushed me inside the house. Before I knew what was happening,
Bassey had locked the door.
“I was initially confused because I had no idea what he was
trying to do. I asked him if he was mad. I was so angry I was
looking for any object around the room to just hit him and injure
him.
“He then said he had something to tell me. I asked what he
wanted to tell me that he could not say while I was outside and had
to tell his younger brother to push me inside.
“He said he had wanted to tell me for a long time that he had
feelings for me. I told him he must be stupid because he knew I was
married and knew my husband. He suddenly grabbed me and I screamed
for help. He punched me till I found it difficult to struggle with
him any longer.
“He tore my dress and my underwear as he slammed me on the bed.
When he was done raping me, he let me unlock the door but I made
sure I took the torn underwear with me.”
Rachael said when she stepped outside the apartment, she then
realised why nobody came when she screamed. She said the compound
was deserted.
Two weeks passed after the incident. Rachael cried alone at
home. She could not leave the house. She waited for her husband to
arrive from his journey. It was not a discussion that could be made
on the phone.
When she narrated what transpired to her husband, he immediately
called his family members.
For Rachael, who is a Yoruba woman, her troubles were not
over.
She was mandated to undergo a cleansing ritual in her husband’s
hometown in Delta State.
It was learnt that without the ritual, she would never be
allowed to cook for her children or husband and neither can he ever
have intercourse with her.
“They said I would bring calamity over my husband and children
and may cause their death,” she said.
Rachael said she ran around to find N300,000 which was used for
the rituals.
Meanwhile, the case was reported at the Ipaja Police State,
Moshalashi.
One Inspector Omoh was assigned to it as investigating officer.
Bassey was arrested and later arraigned at the Ogba Magistrate’s
Court, Lagos, for rape.
He was granted a N500,000 bail along with other conditions which
he could not meet for two weeks and so, remained in the Kirikiri
Prisons.
Saturday PUNCH not TheNigerialawyer learnt that while the case
was ongoing, more revelations about Bassey emerged.
Rachael said an old woman and her daughter came to her house to
beg her one night. She later realised that the daughter was living
in Bassey’s house as his “wife.”
“The woman said I should forgive him. She then said, ‘Is it not
the same way he raped this one (her daughter) and impregnated her
before her father sent her out to live with him (Bassey)? I was
shocked. I told them the matter was not in my hands anymore,”
Rachael said.
But again, this was not the end of Rachael’s problems.
She told our correspondent that she had become a laughing stock
on the street as some neighbours now call her “Bassey’s wife.”
According to her, when Bassey met his bail conditions and left
the prison custody, he started to spread the story around the
neighbourhood, making people to jeer at her.
“Sometimes, some people who knew me would come to my house and
tell me they heard some bad things about me and ask me what really
happened. Everybody expected me to start telling them how he raped
me. I have become a symbol of shame. I cannot count the number of
times I have seen people, pointing and laughing at me on the street
when I pass by,” she said.
However, after an adjournment, a postponed sitting because of
holiday and another sitting in which Bassey was never brought to
court from prison, Rachael alleged that the prosecutor, Inspector
Ayorinde Ezekiel, told her that the next adjournment was Monday,
August 28.
Before then, Ezekiel had allegedly approached Bassey and her
husband with a strange instruction.
“The prosecutor asked me that if the family of Bassey gave me
N300,000, would I accept it? He later told me that five per cent of
whatever they pay me would be his. I told my husband about it and
he decided to call the prosecutor. I asked him to tell Mr. Ezekiel
that whatever they decide to pay, they should take it to court,”
Rachael said.
On August 28, Bassey and her husband went to court and were told
that the case had been heard on August 21 and had been struck
out.
When she called the prosecutor to find out what happened,
Ezekiel told her it was struck out by the magistrate because she
did not appear that day.
Bassey’s family now suspect that Ezekiel deliberately gave them
a wrong date so that he could tell the court to strike out the
case.
They believe he had been bribed by Bassey and his family.
On the part of the investigating police officer, Omoh, he told
Rachael that he did not know why the case was struck out too,
saying he was not in court that day (August 21).
Omoh said it was strange that the court could strike out a case
simply because the plantiff (Rachael) was not in court on a single
sitting.
Saturday PUNCH not TheNigerilalawyer learnt that after advice
from family, Rachael had to go to the hospital to have herself
tested. She took the test report which showed some staphylococcus
infection.
Our correspondent reached out to Ezekiel about Rachael’s
allegations but the prosecutor insisted that there was no truth to
all her claims.
He said, “Did she tell you that I gave you the wrong date? It is
not possible for any prosecutor to make an allegation to a court to
strike out his own case. No prosecutor will do that.
“She will not tell you the truth of the matter. She cannot stand
before me and say these things she has told you. She is the one who
forgot the date. I was trying to reach out to her about the day of
the sitting but there was no way.
The case was mentioned and I tried to defend the case that she
was on her way but the magistrate opened the file and said the case
was too long and that if she (Rachael) was still interested, she
could go back and make further arrest and bring him (Bassey) back
to court.
“When the matter was struck out, she came later and I told her
it had been struck out. I asked why she was not in court and she
said ‘somebody’ gave her another date. I told her that was not the
end of the case. I asked her to go back to the station and that she
could still get the man rearrested. I refuse to be provoked this
morning about what she told you.”
Asked about the N300,000 ‘settlement’ offer he allegedly made to
the woman, the prosecutor said, “You are a man. If your wife was
raped, would you collect money? They (Rachael and her husband) were
the ones who came to me and said the family of the man were begging
with N300,000. How could I have gone to meet the other party and
told them to bring money?
“I told her that if they wanted to pay her money, she should
take it because the case had no substance and no evidence. You said
they raped you but you have no evidence; that was why I told her to
collect the money.”
The investigating police officer (Omoh), who expressed surprise
that the case had been struck out, has told Rachael to get herself
a dedicated lawyer. He has also told her that anytime she wanted
Bassey rearrested, he would make the arrest.
Bassey has refused to react to all the allegations against him
by Rachael. When our correspondent spoke with him, he said he could
only give a full account of what really transpired the day Rachael
followed him to get the clipper in a court and if he was
re-arraigned.
He said, “If they dare get me rearrested and charged to court,
only then would I narrate everything that happened.
“She said I had been abusing her around the neighbourhood and
people are making jest of her. But she is the one who has been
spreading falsehood about me. The same people she has been telling
the story are the ones making jest of her.”
Asked if there was any kind of relationship between them as
being rumoured in their neighbourhood, Bassey said none existed
beyond the fact that he was Rachael’s children’s barber.
The Executive Director of Esther Child Rights Foundation, Mrs.
Esther Ogwu, explained that there was the danger that more victims
of rape might never summon the courage to speak out when they
realise that cases of victims like Rachael never got resolved.
She said, “We were approached to take up the case by a
sympathiser who heard about it and felt she might never get
justice.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that the justice is being served
in this case. We believe the prosecutor has a lot to explain about
how a case could be dismissed simply because the plantiff who had
never missed a court date did not appear.
“The question is, what did he tell the court at the hearing
which the victim and her husband did not have the opportunity to
attend because they were given a different date?
“At this point we can only call on the police to make a rearrest
and charge the suspect to court because if cases like this are
handled this way, the outside world would continue to view us as a
country where laws don’t matter.”
Punch
•forced to spend N300,000 on cleansing
ritual
•I told her to take money offered by suspect – Prosecutor
For the last five years, 30-year-old Bassey Victor, has been
working as a barber in a shop along Raji Oba, Iyana Ipaja area of
Lagos.
For those five years, Rachael’s husband and three of her four
children have been part of his loyal customers.
They referred to him as their family barber.
Rachael (not real name) is a trader married to a Delta State
indigene, a businessman who often travelled for days, entrusting
the care of the home and children in the hands of his wife.
But sometime in March, while her husband travelled out of Lagos
for work, she became a victim of a heinous crime she could not have
imagined would ever happen to her.
Rachael sounded strong initially, as she told our correspondent
her story in the office of the Esther Child Rights Foundation she
had run to for help.
But midway into her story, her strong façade cracked, spilling
out the evidence of her trauma. She cried. The tears spilled out in
torrents.
Rachael did not have to explain all the physical and
psychological trauma that had been brought upon her since that
afternoon in March. Her expression alone told a million
stories.
She said, “He (Bassey) was so familiar with my family that he
once even approached my husband, pleading with him to open a
barber’s shop for him.
“Around December, my husband took his clipper to the barber to
have a haircut and it seemed it did not work well. He left it with
Bassey to have it repaired. I asked for the clipper back because it
had been there for too long and he said he needed money for the
repairs. My husband gave him the money.
“Sometimes, when I took my three boys there to have a haircut, I
would leave them with him. He would cut their hair and send them
home.
“There was a time I noticed an infection on the head of one of
them and I asked if he was using our clipper but the children said
they did not know.
“I then asked Bassey for the clipper. He gave some excuses that
it still did not work well after the repair. The last time I asked,
that day in March, he told me that the clipper was at home.”
Bassey, who lived a short distance from his shop, allegedly told
Rachael that he had something to do along his residence and he
could stop by and get her the clipper.
Since she had insisted on getting back the clipper that day,
Rachael said she followed Bassey to his house.
It was about 1pm on a Friday.
“When we got to the house, I stayed at the entrance as he went
inside. His younger brother was at home. While I waited outside, he
spoke in their dialect to his younger brother. The boy then went
out.
“While I stood, he was going about as if he was trying to locate
the clipper. His younger brother lingered around outside too. He
then spoke to the boy again in their dialect. The boy suddenly
pushed me inside the house. Before I knew what was happening,
Bassey had locked the door.
“I was initially confused because I had no idea what he was
trying to do. I asked him if he was mad. I was so angry I was
looking for any object around the room to just hit him and injure
him.
“He then said he had something to tell me. I asked what he
wanted to tell me that he could not say while I was outside and had
to tell his younger brother to push me inside.
“He said he had wanted to tell me for a long time that he had
feelings for me. I told him he must be stupid because he knew I was
married and knew my husband. He suddenly grabbed me and I screamed
for help. He punched me till I found it difficult to struggle with
him any longer.
“He tore my dress and my underwear as he slammed me on the bed.
When he was done raping me, he let me unlock the door but I made
sure I took the torn underwear with me.”
Rachael said when she stepped outside the apartment, she then
realised why nobody came when she screamed. She said the compound
was deserted.
Two weeks passed after the incident. Rachael cried alone at
home. She could not leave the house. She waited for her husband to
arrive from his journey. It was not a discussion that could be made
on the phone.
When she narrated what transpired to her husband, he immediately
called his family members.
For Rachael, who is a Yoruba woman, her troubles were not
over.
She was mandated to undergo a cleansing ritual in her husband’s
hometown in Delta State.
It was learnt that without the ritual, she would never be
allowed to cook for her children or husband and neither can he ever
have intercourse with her.
“They said I would bring calamity over my husband and children
and may cause their death,” she said.
Rachael said she ran around to find N300,000 which was used for
the rituals.
Meanwhile, the case was reported at the Ipaja Police State,
Moshalashi.
One Inspector Omoh was assigned to it as investigating officer.
Bassey was arrested and later arraigned at the Ogba Magistrate’s
Court, Lagos, for rape.
He was granted a N500,000 bail along with other conditions which
he could not meet for two weeks and so, remained in the Kirikiri
Prisons.
Saturday PUNCH not TheNigerialawyer learnt that while the case
was ongoing, more revelations about Bassey emerged.
Rachael said an old woman and her daughter came to her house to
beg her one night. She later realised that the daughter was living
in Bassey’s house as his “wife.”
“The woman said I should forgive him. She then said, ‘Is it not
the same way he raped this one (her daughter) and impregnated her
before her father sent her out to live with him (Bassey)? I was
shocked. I told them the matter was not in my hands anymore,”
Rachael said.
But again, this was not the end of Rachael’s problems.
She told our correspondent that she had become a laughing stock
on the street as some neighbours now call her “Bassey’s wife.”
According to her, when Bassey met his bail conditions and left
the prison custody, he started to spread the story around the
neighbourhood, making people to jeer at her.
“Sometimes, some people who knew me would come to my house and
tell me they heard some bad things about me and ask me what really
happened. Everybody expected me to start telling them how he raped
me. I have become a symbol of shame. I cannot count the number of
times I have seen people, pointing and laughing at me on the street
when I pass by,” she said.
However, after an adjournment, a postponed sitting because of
holiday and another sitting in which Bassey was never brought to
court from prison, Rachael alleged that the prosecutor, Inspector
Ayorinde Ezekiel, told her that the next adjournment was Monday,
August 28.
Before then, Ezekiel had allegedly approached Bassey and her
husband with a strange instruction.
“The prosecutor asked me that if the family of Bassey gave me
N300,000, would I accept it? He later told me that five per cent of
whatever they pay me would be his. I told my husband about it and
he decided to call the prosecutor. I asked him to tell Mr. Ezekiel
that whatever they decide to pay, they should take it to court,”
Rachael said.
On August 28, Bassey and her husband went to court and were told
that the case had been heard on August 21 and had been struck
out.
When she called the prosecutor to find out what happened,
Ezekiel told her it was struck out by the magistrate because she
did not appear that day.
Bassey’s family now suspect that Ezekiel deliberately gave them
a wrong date so that he could tell the court to strike out the
case.
They believe he had been bribed by Bassey and his family.
On the part of the investigating police officer, Omoh, he told
Rachael that he did not know why the case was struck out too,
saying he was not in court that day (August 21).
Omoh said it was strange that the court could strike out a case
simply because the plantiff (Rachael) was not in court on a single
sitting.
Saturday PUNCH not TheNigerilalawyer learnt that after advice
from family, Rachael had to go to the hospital to have herself
tested. She took the test report which showed some staphylococcus
infection.
Our correspondent reached out to Ezekiel about Rachael’s
allegations but the prosecutor insisted that there was no truth to
all her claims.
He said, “Did she tell you that I gave you the wrong date? It is
not possible for any prosecutor to make an allegation to a court to
strike out his own case. No prosecutor will do that.
“She will not tell you the truth of the matter. She cannot stand
before me and say these things she has told you. She is the one who
forgot the date. I was trying to reach out to her about the day of
the sitting but there was no way.
The case was mentioned and I tried to defend the case that she
was on her way but the magistrate opened the file and said the case
was too long and that if she (Rachael) was still interested, she
could go back and make further arrest and bring him (Bassey) back
to court.
“When the matter was struck out, she came later and I told her
it had been struck out. I asked why she was not in court and she
said ‘somebody’ gave her another date. I told her that was not the
end of the case. I asked her to go back to the station and that she
could still get the man rearrested. I refuse to be provoked this
morning about what she told you.”
Asked about the N300,000 ‘settlement’ offer he allegedly made to
the woman, the prosecutor said, “You are a man. If your wife was
raped, would you collect money? They (Rachael and her husband) were
the ones who came to me and said the family of the man were begging
with N300,000. How could I have gone to meet the other party and
told them to bring money?
“I told her that if they wanted to pay her money, she should
take it because the case had no substance and no evidence. You said
they raped you but you have no evidence; that was why I told her to
collect the money.”
The investigating police officer (Omoh), who expressed surprise
that the case had been struck out, has told Rachael to get herself
a dedicated lawyer. He has also told her that anytime she wanted
Bassey rearrested, he would make the arrest.
Bassey has refused to react to all the allegations against him
by Rachael. When our correspondent spoke with him, he said he could
only give a full account of what really transpired the day Rachael
followed him to get the clipper in a court and if he was
re-arraigned.
He said, “If they dare get me rearrested and charged to court,
only then would I narrate everything that happened.
“She said I had been abusing her around the neighbourhood and
people are making jest of her. But she is the one who has been
spreading falsehood about me. The same people she has been telling
the story are the ones making jest of her.”
Asked if there was any kind of relationship between them as
being rumoured in their neighbourhood, Bassey said none existed
beyond the fact that he was Rachael’s children’s barber.
The Executive Director of Esther Child Rights Foundation, Mrs.
Esther Ogwu, explained that there was the danger that more victims
of rape might never summon the courage to speak out when they
realise that cases of victims like Rachael never got resolved.
She said, “We were approached to take up the case by a
sympathiser who heard about it and felt she might never get
justice.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that the justice is being served
in this case. We believe the prosecutor has a lot to explain about
how a case could be dismissed simply because the plantiff who had
never missed a court date did not appear.
“The question is, what did he tell the court at the hearing
which the victim and her husband did not have the opportunity to
attend because they were given a different date?
“At this point we can only call on the police to make a rearrest
and charge the suspect to court because if cases like this are
handled this way, the outside world would continue to view us as a
country where laws don’t matter.”
Punch
Read more https://nairalaw.com/travails-of-mother-of-four-raped-by-sons-barber/