COZA Pastor Rape Allegation: The Right Energy And Where To Channel It By Ebi Robert

Rape is a serious crime under our criminal jurisprudence. When a
woman is raped, it affects her psychological state of mind, and the
wounds that result from the act do last for a very long period of
time. Some women eventually get healed while others do not.

No sane human being supports rape except he is a professional
rapist.

Some days back, the social media was dominated with the story of
Timi Dakolo’s wife, Busola Dakolo alleging that she was raped by
the COZA lead-pastor, Biodun Fatoyingbo. This led to mix reactions.
I was among those who commented on the report and gave my opinion
about the matter. Unfortunately, some of my facebook friends, who
perhaps misunderstood my point of view, attacked me for my firm
stance on the matter despite the fact that I didn’t take any
side.

I will try to make some points clearer, and as well highlight
some conclusions about this worrisome matter.

WHEN WAS THE RIGHT TIME TO SPEAK?

Women are inarguably the major victims of rape cases. That is
why they are so full of emotions each time they talk about it. No
one loves to be s*xed without his or her consent. When s*x is
perfected without consent or when it is gotten fraudulently, it
leaves the party in a state of falsehood, pain and frustration. I
am fully aware of the aftermath.

But when really is the right time to speak when one is raped or
faced with an attempted rape? The answer is: IN THE HEAT OF THE
PASSION.

By this I mean that when the incident is still very fresh. I
have heard cases of women being raped, not once or twice; but they
keep quiet about it while dying in silence. To some, no one will
believe them so the best thing to do is to keep quiet. Some also
say that the reason why they keep quiet is because they were
threatened.

Truly, some were threatened — not all were. Unfortunately, even
some who were not threatened keep quiet because of some reasons
best known to them. How important is your dignity? If you know and
understand how important your dignity as a woman is to you and the
damage the memory will cause to your person, you will then
understand why it is very imperative to speak out. Victims do
themselves no good by keeping quiet. Just as the case of Dakolo’s
wife, for many years, she said nothing and boom, one day, she came
out open to the public to say she was raped. The question is: why
keep quiet all these years if you are bold even to tell the whole
public today? Is her husband aware of it? If yes, what was his take
about it? To me, the story though may have drawn the attention of
many, was the least unexpected at this time because she only
succeeded in embarrassing herself, the COZA pastor and her
husband.

WHAT TO DO WHEN ASSAULTED OR RAPED?

God forbid that any female becomes a victim of rape, but if
anything close to that ever happens, then report the matter to the
nearest police station. First, make sure you get witnesses
involved. Tell someone, maybe a mother, father, brother or sister
or any other person you can confine in. Even if it was an attempted
rape case, report the matter. In the case of a person that was
raped, a medical report will go a long way to prove penetration.
The problem with keeping the story for so long to oneself and
vomiting it later as in the instant case is that, the victim will
find it difficult proving penetration.

BENEFITS OF SPEAKING OUT EARLY:

There are many Human Right agencies out there. We have the
National Human Rights Commission, FIDA, and other NGOs who are
eager to handle such cases. Approach any of them and you will get
answers, that is if you think the police may not help matters
easily.

When you speak out:

1. It will kickstart investigation and preserve enough
evidence.

2. If the criminal is judged guilty, it gives the victims some
form of psychological healing.

3. It serves as deterrence to others.

Let no one say that the COURT doesn’t work. There are many cases
of rape handled by the courts daily and judgements are given almost
every year with people being convinced.

AM I IN SUPPORT OF THE SUPOSSED SUSPECT?

Of course not. I have not even met the COZA pastor ever in my
life. But I am a christian and a lawyer. I am not in support of any
evil, whether done by someone in the name of the church or not.
Evil is Evil. I may not share the same doctrinal beliefs with the
said pastor but I have a duty to protect rights — whether it is
that of a native doctor or a wizard. It may equally be true that he
indeed did what he was accused of, the material and legal truth is
that, ”Audi Altarem Patem.” He has the right to fair hearing. It
will be wrong for me or anyone to crucify him simply because an
allegation was laid on his head. No, it is not enough to draw
conclusion simply because it the allegation was made by a wife who
perhaps may stand to gain nothing from such. The man is presumed
innocent until proven otherwise. Anyone who gives any form of
verdict without hearing from the other party, firmly, is just like
every other person out there who believes in jungle justice.

If Dakolo’s wife thinks she is right, let her go to court, but
she should be ready to face a defamation suit from the pastor if it
arises. The reason is because she failed to speak when she ought
to. Maybe true, she may most likely fail and if this happens, the
citizens will fault the court system as usual, not minding the fact
that the citizens also failed in their responsibly.
Whether you believe any of the parties is immaterial. Staging a
protest is also immaterial for now. This battle did not start just
yesterday. Many have dedicated their whole lives to this quest long
before now.

The fact is that rape affects both male and female because when
a woman is raped, it is the mother, wife or sister of a man that
may be the victim.

As a man it also hurts to grow with such a memory; that is, the
memory of the fact that one is a product of rape, or that one’s
beloved sister or wife was raped. It affects the men- victims too
as much as it affects the primary victim.

Based on the lessons learnt, what activists are to do is to
focus their attention on triggering the boldness and encouraging
victims to speak out as early as possible.

They should also channel their energy into educating the girl
child on how well to dress decent — not exposing sensitive parts of
their body (This is not to justify rape); female advocates should
cease to patronize pornography in any guise, and they should
discourage it; NGOs and other Women Right Activists should also
work hard to checkmate the kind of musics produced in our nation
where ladies dress almost half-naked or even naked; advocates
should teach the young females how to avoid unusual visitation to
the opposite sex, and be sensitive to unusual behaviours, etc. All
these contribute to the cause. Remember, some of the victims are
precipative-crime-victims while others are not. This is evident
under the study of Victimology taken a criminological approach into
consideration.

It is unwise to keep a rape incident a secret only to expose it
in an interview years after. It is not the best way to get
justice.

#SPEAK OUT. There are lawyers out there to defend you.

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!