A 48-year-old man, Mr Idowu Sanni, was arrested at Ifedapo Amuloko
area of Ibadan, Oyo State, for having carnal knowledge of his
15-year-old daughter, Hassana (not real name).
Hassanah, who was the only child from his mother for his father,
disclosed to law enforcement agents that the man started the unlawful
relationship with her five years ago, when she was just 10 years old.
Her mother, who was Sanni’s second wife, had since remarried while the
first wife still lived with him till he was arrested.
Sanni, a draughtsman, was on Wednesday, November 27, remanded in
Agodi prisons, Ibadan, after he was arraigned at Iyaganku Magistrates’
Court 2, Ibadan, for defiling the teenager. The girl is currently being
taken care of by Child’s Protection Network while the Oyo State Ministry
of Women Affairs and Social Welfare had also shown interest in the
case.
Hassanah told Crime Reports that her mother told her she left her father when he asked her to abort her second pregnancy.
“According to my mother, my father’s excuse was that the senior wife
was also pregnant and he didn’t want them to give birth at the same
time. After the abortion, my mother said she went to her mother and
narrated her experience. My grandmother asked her to stay with her and
not return to my father, saying that a man who loves his wife would
never ask her to abort his own child.
“My mother said she thought my father would come and beg her, but to
her surprise, he asked her to come and pack her things from his house.
She took me with her and I was with my mother until I was five years old
when my father came to take me from her. He also refused her access to
me.
“He started having sex with me when I was 10 years old. I told my
father’s senior wife and she reported at Iyaganku police station. He was
asked to sign an undertaking that he would not do such again.
“Shortly after, he started again. Anytime I was preparing to go to
where I was under apprenticeship as a hairdresser, he would ask me to go
and bring something for him from the sitting room. He would grab me
from behind, cover my mouth with his palm and push me down. He would
then have sex with me.
“When I started menstruating, he would not come to me during my
periods. He used to know whenever I was observing my period because I
would not be able to join others to pray. Once my periods ended, he
would start coming again. My step-mother is sick and was always in her
room, so she didn’t know what was going on.
“If I told him that I would tell my stepmother, he would ask me not
to do so, threatening that he would disown me and cut off my head. I
told a man living beside our house and he asked me to go back to my
father to ask if he was my real father. However, I could not ask because
I found that too heavy for my mouth at my age.
“Recently, I went to my colleague’s house to collect my boss’s money
from her. When I came back, my father said I went to a man. The
following morning, he came to where I slept and started beating me. He
said I should not return to his house until I have brought a suitor.
Since I had none, I told a neighbour and he took me to a lady so that I
could stay with her. I had slept in the lady’s room for two days when
the neighbour came and asked me to leave, saying my father had brought
policemen to arrest him.
“I returned home and my boss asked me why I left home. I told another
woman who used to visit my boss and she informed another person. That
was how Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN) was
informed and they came to take me away from him.”
In his statement, the girl’s father confessed to have had sex with
his daughter but denied that he started five years ago. Saying that he
began to sleep with Hassanah this year, the father of five blamed the
devil for his action.
Narrating how the sexual relationship between him and his daughter
happened, Sanni said: “In March 2013, my daughter came to my room to ask
for her feeding allowance. I hugged her, pushed on the bed and had sex
with her. I did it the second time in April. Whenever I was having sex
with her, my wife would not know because she was staying in another
room. The girl didn’t use to cry or shout and I didn’t meet her as a
virgin.
“On October 23, I had sex with her again. On October 26, the chairman
of my neighbourhood’s landlord association called me that FOMWAN came
to pick my daughter and asked me to see them in their office. I went
there and was taken to Iyaganku police station.”
However, Hassana dismissed her father’s claim of not being the one
who deflowered her, saying she had never had any sexual relationship
with any man except her father.
The case has been adjourned to December 9.
