Ngozi Uwujare
Residents of Onogholo Village, in Ubiaja, Esan South-East Local Government Area, Edo State, are still reeling from the ignoble action of a 17-year-old who allegedly broke into the home of a 75-year-old woman, Madam Helina Aborsi and raped her after threatening her into submission with a machete.
The suspect, Junior David, had committed the crime in broad daylight on March 4, 2020. Nemesis caught up with him hours later when a neighbour who saw him sneaking out from the victim’s compound reported him to community leaders who interrogated him when he was eventually apprehended. After he confessed his crime, the community decided to turn him over to law enforcement agents. Thus he found himself a guest of the law enforcement agents at the Ubiaja Police Station.
Junior David, the suspect, told Saturday Sun he operated alone. The SS1 dropout of Udagba Secondary 
School, who claimed that he was acquainted with his victim, gave details of his atrocity: “I entered her compound around 10 am while she was asleep. When she woke up and saw me, I used a machete to threaten her. I pulled off her panties and after I wore a condom, I had sex with her. I also took her N10, 000.”
He had swiftly spent the money even before he was summoned by the community leaders. “I used the money to buy school bag, uniform, seven notebooks, calculator and biro,” he claimed.
David, the first child of his family’s eight children, blamed poverty for his crime: “My parents are poor and cannot afford to pay my school fees,” he said. “So, I started to steal, first from my mother’s sister’s house. At a particular time, I stole the sum of N18, 000 which I used to pay for my school fees and to buy books, bags and sandal.”
He also admitted to having raped and robbed other victims in the community.
His victim, Aborsi, shared with Saturday Sun her ordeal at the hand of her teenage rapist. “It was around 10 in the morning, he must have come in and hide behind the door while I was sweeping the backyard. Immediately I stepped into my room, he grabbed me and forcefully removed my underwear and my clothes. As I shouted, he used the pillow to press down my nose. When I shouted Jesus, Jesus, he asked me: who is Jesus? Then he brought out a machete. He raised it and asked me whether I know him. I told him I don’t know who he is. He first took N10, 000 from me. Then he told me he wanted to f**k me. He said if I refused he would kill me. So I allowed him to have his way. After that, he threatened to kill me if I tell anyone about the matter. I was at home when the community elders sent for me and asked me to tell them what happened to me. I told them the truth, how he came into my house with a machete and threatened to harm me, I told them how he raped me and robbed me of N10, 000.”
At the police station, the victim mustered the courage to face her assailant. She asked him only one question: Were you sent by a herbalist to do that to me for ritual purpose? “But he said no; he said nobody sent him to me,” Aborsi told Saturday Sun.
Police officers subsequently took the traumatised 75-year-old to the General Hospital in Ubiaja where she received medical treatment.
A community leader, Joseph Osagie told Saturday Sun the suspect was a never-do-well of whom there had been several complaints of atrocities in the past.
The cleric who commits a sacrilege
In another rape case, the suspect is a 65-year-old clergyman, Reverend Pastor John Imoagadama Esaigbe, a teacher at the Nigeria Advance School of Theology, while his victim is a 14-years-old whose first name is Divine. Esaigbe was alleged to have raped the minor four times in his room. He reportedly sent for the girl and locked her in his room till the next day, releasing her after he had had carnal knowledge of her.
The victim had reported her ordeal to her parents who promptly went to Ewu Police Station on February 26, 2020. Esaigbe reportedly fled his house when the news broke, but he was apprehended hours later by a vigilante group and was taken to the police station.
However, Esaigbe, who hails from Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State, was adamant that he was framed. He told Saturday Sun: “The issue that I raped Divine, my neighbour was mainly an allegation. The parent planned against me out of hatred.”
Esaigbe, who is married with children has been teaching at the Nigeria Advance School of Theology since 1994. He stated further: “It was because a human rights organization took the case up, that is why I was arrested. I don’t want to talk again.”
During a brief interview, the 14-year-old victim, currently hospitalized at Specialist Hospital Irrua, Esan, Central, LGA, Edo State, reiterated: “He sent for me through one of his students called Joseph. He then locked the door of his room, removed my clothes and raped me. He did it again, and again, four times before he released me the next day. I informed my parents who brought me to the hospital.”
On their way to the court
Speaking on the rape cases, Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Lawan Jimeta avowed that both suspects will be arraigned in court at the end of the day.
According to him, in the case of Junior, the machete he used to coerce his victim has been recovered from him and the case transferred to the State Criminal Investigations Department in Benin City, where he is currently in custody.
Jimeta, who affirmed that the second suspect Ebaigbe will also be docked in court soon, confirmed that his 14-year-old victim had bruises on her private part and therefore had to be admitted at the Specialist Hospital in Irrua from where the police had since obtained a medical report.
