…Foreigner petitions DSS On Defilement allegation, claims defamation
Juliana Francis
Angry Child Rights Groups in Lagos State, Nigeria, have accused the Department of State Services (DSS) of abandoning its primary responsibility of combating threats to national security to pursue a defilement case, which ordinarily should be handled by the Gender Unit of the Lagos State Police Command.
The Executive Director of DOHS Cares Foundation, Mrs Lolade Ajayi, is at the forefront of the group, fighting for justice for a 10-year-old girl who was first sexually violated.
Ajayi is also demanding that the foreigner identified simply as Uncle Cobus accused by be arrested and prosecuted.
According to the child, her maternal aunt, identified as Anita, took her to the foreigner’s house twice, and on both occasions, something terrible happened.
She recounted that on the first day Anita took her to Uncle Cobus’s house, she saw about nine girls in her age bracket. Uncle Cobus would later take her into a room, where he compelled her to play with his manhood.
On the second occasion that she met with Uncle Cobus, he penetrated her.
The petrified child told child protection groups and family members that she had told her mom, Bunmi, about the traumatising incidents, but her mom pleaded with her not to let her father, Stephen, know about this crime.
Bunmi, who is estranged from Stephen and is squatting with her younger sister Anita.
The Lagos State Child Rights Law prohibits sexual intercourse with a child, considering it a serious offence.
According to Section 27 of the Law, “Sexual intercourse with a child” is explicitly forbidden, aiming to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation.
The defilement of the child would have gone undetected but for a minor drama that played at the home of Stephen.
Some time ago, Stephen and Bunmi had marital issues, leading to both seeking divorce. Securitynewsalert.com heard that the matter was already with the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender (OPD), where both parents had been squabbling over custody of the children.
However, pending the verdict of the custody issue, the couple agreed that their two children would be staying with their dad, but they also go to her mom’s on some occasions or on holiday, especially since Bunmi is yet to have an apartment of her own.
One fateful day, visitors came calling at Stephen’s home, and among them was a boy-child.
While the adults were busy chatting and catching up, Stephen’s daughter ferried the boy out of the adults’ presence, to a secluded part of the apartment, and touched his manhood.
The boy would later tell his parents, which naturally caused gasps of shock and outrage. Stephen’s daughter was questioned on where she learned such behaviour.
It was at that point she narrated how her Aunt Anita used to take to Uncle Cobus with other children to play in his swimming room, and then he would sexually violate any of the children that tickled his fancy.
Stephen stormed out and made a beeline for Anita’s home, where his estranged wife now lives. He confronted his wife, accusing her and Anita of giving his daughter to a foreigner to sexually violate.
Securitynewsalert.com heard that Stephen was told by both sisters, Bunmi and Anita, that Uncle Cobus is a philanthropist who runs a nongovernmental organisation (NGO) with a focus on children. He also pays school fees for some children.
It was further gathered that Uncle Cobus, aside from creating avenues for the children to come to his home to play, also used to take them out to special places, including ShopRite, where he would buy confectioneries and other stuff to win them over.
Stephen had yet to see Uncle Cobus before he was invited by officials of DSS to their Lagos office at CMD Road, Shangisha. He was told that someone had written a petition against him, claiming defamation.
Stephen expressed shock over the petition, insisting that the DSS officials should tell him the name and identity of the petitioner.
The invitation from DSS to Stephen, dated 23rd of April 2025, was sighted by Securitynewsalert.com, which showed DSS instructing Stephen to come to its Lagos Head office at noon.
According to the invitation: “The meeting is to aid the Command’s investigation into the alleged molestation of your daughter,…who is a minor.”
Ajayi opined that Uncle Cobus, whose real name, identity and job are yet unknown, is trying to use DSS officials to intimidate and threaten Stephen from seeking justice for his molested child. She also feels that Uncle Cobus could be a serial paedophile.
Ajayi fumed: “As a child rights advocate, I am completely baffled as to why DSS is involving itself in a Defilement issue. The claim of Defamation of character against the survivor’s dad is also spurious, and it’s baffling why a department of state security is handling that.
“The most confusing is the issue of mediation …in a rape case? We are extremely alarmed that a highly placed criminal is about to abuse power after abusing children.
“This case is probably about a child and sex trafficking ring which all hands should be on deck to arrest the perpetrator. We hope that justice will not be perverted in this matter. Justice to us means that all the perpetrators are arrested and prosecuted, and the other children are rescued.”
Stephen, while sharing his harrowing experience at the DSS Office, said that it was as if something was sprayed in the air during his interrogation because he felt that he could no longer breathe properly, and he was seized with endless coughing.
He said it was too frightful and he felt like he was going to die.
He further narrated: “When I got to the DSS office, I was invited inside their office, and the lawyer that went with me was told to stay in the reception waiting room.
“While in the room, I was told that a petition was filed against me by my kid’s mother, on the allegation of defamation of character.
“I was asked what the relationship with my kid’s mother was. The officer who was asking me these questions told me that his name is Adeyemi King.
“He spoke with me on the matter and then asked me to narrate the story, which I told him. He was writing it down in a jotter.
“The summary of my story: I granted custody of my two children by OPD in 2021 because as at that time, my kids’ mother didn’t have a place of her own. However, she had access right to visit our kids on holidays. We parted ways over irreconcilable differences, and there were threats to life.
“But on a recent development in April, something happened in my house that brought out a revelation that my daughter was being abused. My daughter told me that while on holiday, her mother used to allow her to go to a man’s place in Lekki called Uncle Cobus ( a foreigner, either of Lebanese or South African Origin ), and she was defiled there.
“It was then the DSS officer, Mr Adeyemi King, who introduced himself to me, said there was a certain NGO man who submitted a petition against me on defamation of character. I then asked him whose character I defamed?
“Is it a man that I had not seen, and the matter is being investigated? There was another DSS officer there named Mr Daramola who was also introduced as a superior officer. It appeared Mr Daramola was not properly briefed on the matter, or the intention of Mr Adeyemi King was unknown, because Mr Daramola was very objective and straight with the issue.
“He asked if I had remarried since our separation, and I told him no, I had not. He then asked how long, and I told him close to six years now. He asked if my kids’ mother had married, I said I didn’t know, but she has a baby with her, which Mr Adeyemi King confirmed that she came with a baby. That was when I was told that she’s around.
“Mr Daramola was trying to mediate about issue of access to children between us, but I told him there was no issue with access to the children until my daughter complained that she was being defiled by one Uncle Cobus in Lekki, where their mother usually take her to, which the mother admitted to that she was the one who give my daughter, a minor to Cobus to help her take care of the child.
“ Mr Daramola was very displeased and asked how my wife could say she gave out a minor child to an adult male individual to take care of, that he was not interested in the matter again. He said that he didn’t want to be involved.
“To my surprise, Mr Adeyemi King was not moved by my kid’s confession. My kids then mentioned that the man was an NGO that takes care of kids that about nine other children there, which my daughter had already told me were all girls, and she mentioned their names.
“The alleged Uncle Cobus called me on Thursday, the 17th of April, with an unknown number. He said he wanted to apologise for what happened between him and my daughter, that he owed me an apology.
“Mr Adeyemi King said How did I know it was Cobus that called me, I told him that he sounded like a Lebanese. Mr King wasn’t surprised but requested the number with which he called me and said he would do his findings.
“I told them that my daughter had been defiled and the mother tried to claim that it was not Mr Cobus that defiled her, that the child had been defiled before in 2019, but that she didn’t tell me.
“Mr Daramola asked if she reported the matter to the police, and she said no. She was then asked the person who defiled the child in 2019 and the person’s phone number, she said a certain Mr Mathew at Shongotedo, where they reside.
“She said that she didn’t have his phone number, that the said Mathew did not have a phone number. At that point, Mr Daramola said he couldn’t continue, but they resolved that I should bring my daughter to their office on Tuesday next week for questioning.
“My kids’ mom doesn’t know what defilement means, so she was trying to cook up a story to cover the matter or to probably exonerate her benefactor, Mr Cobus. She also said the child was forced to confess because I beat her up, which was false.
“To crown it all, the kids’ mom is now pushing for full custody of the children. On our way out, Mr Adeyemi King came to the security gate house and was trying to tell me that the call I got was from the PA to the state director, which I didn’t agree with. We signed out and left the DSS premises.”
