- She disclosed that she first reported the matter to her teacher in school, after about four years of constant abuse by her stepfather
In Osun State, an Osogbo-based cleric, identified as Femi has raped and impregnated his stepdaughter.
The 16-year-old stepdaughter, name (withheld), who levelled the allegation against Femi, disclosed that she was raped when she was 13 year-old.
The victim, aged 16, had approached a Non-Governmental Organisation, the World Institute for Peace, to seek Alternative Dispute Resolution.
The teenager had in an affidavit, sworn to at the Osun State Ministry of Justice, claimed that after her stepfather put her in family way, the pregnancy was terminated.
Narrating her ordeal to the officials of the NGO, she disclosed that she first reported the matter to her teacher in school, after about four years of constant abuse by her stepfather.
Speaking at an alternative dispute resolution meeting organised by WIP, the victim explained that her stepfather started having sexual intercourse with her when she was 12 years old.
She said, “When I was 13 years old, I got pregnant and he took me to a hospital for an abortion.
“He asked me to lie to the doctor that my classmate impregnated me and ran away. The first time he had intercourse with me was on my mother’s bed and he has been doing it continuously.
“I decided not to take the matter to court because my mother had four children for him, although two were dead.”
She also said she did not take legal action because of her step-siblings.
“I don’t want a situation whereby when the children grow up, it would be as if I am the one who sent their father to prison.
“I decided not to take legal action because of his children who are my younger siblings,” she said.
Also at the meeting, Femi, who is a commercial motorcyclist, as well as a pastor in a church he established, confessed to committing the crime.
Femi, who stated that he lost count of the number of times he slept with her, said it was God that instructed him to have carnal knowledge of the victim.
“It is true I slept with her although I don’t remember the number of times I did it with her.
“I’m a pastor and it was God who told me to sleep with her. God also told me to abort the pregnancy,” he confessed.
The affidavit, sworn to by the mother of the victim on her behalf, partly read, “My daughter went to the human rights organisation, World Institute for Peace, and reported a case of defilement and abortion levelled against her stepfather, Femi, early in August 2024.
“That, I have the consent of all the members of the family to swear to the affidavit that on August 11, 2024, we met with the human rights organisation, World Institute for Peace and agreed to settle amicably within the family.
“That, she (victim) agreed to resolve the dispute through alternative dispute resolution and has engaged in negotiation.
“That the family is not ready to pursue any case whatsoever with Mr Femi any longer.
“That the purpose of withdrawing was as a result of a settlement between the families, which was the sole proposition of the settlement.”
In his admonition for the parties involved in the matter, the Executive Director of the NGO, Lamina Omotoyosi, called on parents to ensure the safety of their children, especially from close family members and relations.
Lamina also bemoaned the increasing cases of incest in the state.