FIJ
Daniel Chijioke, a man living with HIV in Ukwu-Orji, Imo State, has been accused of consistently molesting and raping the 13-year-old daughter of Godstime Ubani, his wife-to-be.
Ubani, the victim’s mother, told FIJ her daughter opened up to her on Saturday that Chijioke, a man with a high viral load, molested her throughout July.
She said that although she had her suspicions that a lot was amiss, she could not put a finger on it until Chijioke told her over a phone call on Saturday to test her daughter for HIV.
Immediately after Ubani ended the call, she began to ask her daughter if Chijioke had touched her inappropriately or in a way she didn’t like, but her daughter would not speak despite her persistence until she threatened to hit her.
“My daughter told me that one night she woke up to find him lying on her. Another time, he slept on her back. She also said that he tried to force himself on her, gagging her to keep her from screaming,” Ubani told FIJ.
“She said Chijioke would lure her to his room under various pretexts, such as asking her to fetch something, but on her way there, he would push her to the bed and have his way forcefully. My daughter said he would leave his sponge in his room and call her from the bathroom to bring his sponge. But she didn’t tell me all this while.”
Ubani told FIJ that her daughter did not open up to her because the day after Chijioke gagged her, he gave her a black powdery substance, which she took along with water on his orders. According to Ubani, her daughter said Chijioke told her she would die the day she told anyone of his malevolent encounters with her.
The victim’s mother said that when she asked Chijioke why he raped her daughter despite putting up with his health status, he hinted that he did it to spite her for exposing his status, which she claimed she didn’t.
“He used to say in Igbo that ‘if someone bites him on the head without minding his hair, when he retaliates by biting the person’s buttocks, he would not mind if it is tainted with a discharge of faeces’. He repeated the same thing on Saturday,” Ubani said, almost in tears.
