…ACVPN vows to work within the law to get justice for minor
Juliana Francis
Members of the Advocates for Children and Vulnerable Persons Network (ACVPN), have urged the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fayoade Adegoke to look into the case of one Mr Okezie, who attacked a 15 years old with a stone, causing her to land in hospital after she alleged him of sexually harassing her.
It was gathered that Okezie, after hurling a stone to the chest of the minor, caused her to lose consciousness, and his pregnant wife ran to police Meiran Police Station to complain about the child.
The child, identified as Fisayo is the daughter of the landlord and known for always running errands for Okezie and his wife.
The co-founder of ACVPN, Mr Ebenezer Omejalile, who has been following the case, said that the attention of ACVPN was drawn to the case which occurred on the the16th of February 2024 within the Meiran area of the Lagos Metropolis
He said: “According to the victim’s aunt, who alerted ACVPN to the incident, Okezie who recently got married has been sexually harassing her 15-year-old niece by making promises of a marriage proposal.
“The 15-year-old understood the antics of such a move due to constant education by her aunt about paedophiles.
“The victim always runs errands for Okezie and his wife, who is currently pregnant. Fisayo reported to her parents the indecent behaviour of Okezie towards her, and was warned by her parents to stop henceforth running errands for both husband and wife because Okezie’s behaviour was a red flag.”
According to Omejalile, on the 16th of February 2024, Fisayo went to bathe and after bathing was naked in their room when she saw Okezie staring at her from the window.
“The man kept telling her to come and open the door for him to enter her father’s house. The girl was alone in the house because her parents had gone to pay a condolence visit to one of their neighbours,” said Omejalile.
The child protection advocate continued: “Okezie has been watching every movement of the victim’s parents, just waiting to strike. Out of anger the 15-year-old girl dressed up and headed straight to Okezie’s wife and told her how her husband had been harassing her.
“Okezie pounced on the girl, slapped her and then picked a huge stone and hurled it at the girl’s chest and she immediately passed out. She was then rushed to hospital by sympathisers.
“Okezie and his wife went to Meiran Police Station and reported different versions of what transpired. However, her parents also visited the same police station to make a counter report.
“ ACVPN was informed this morning that doctors are battling to revive the girl and that a chest x-ray was also required to ascertain the extent of the damage to her chest. ACVPN is calling on the CP Lagos through the Gender Unit to take over this case because Okezie and his wife must face the wrath of the Law for their irresponsible behaviours.
“Okezie and his wife should be made a scapegoat to deter others. We also urged Lagos State Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and Nigeria Bar Association to be abreast of this incident.”
Omejalile said he was also not too pleased with reports being received that the police at Meiran were advocating for the girl’s parents to child their initial complaint of sexual harassment to something else.
He urged the police to follow the Police Standard Procedure (SOP) concerning issues relating to Sex and Gender Based Violence (SGBV).
According to Omejalile, Okezie could have killed the girl by hurling such a large stone on her chest.
He asked rhetorically: “Can you imagine? What about if the girl did not recover from her unconsciousness? What if she had died? What would we be saying now?”
Reacting to a later development, Omejalile said: “We reliably gathered that Okezie is currently detained at Meiran Police Station after the Gender Unit and other Comrade pressure groups put a call through to both the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Meiran Police Station and the Investigating Police Officer (IPO).
“Okezie will be transferred to the Gender Unit on Monday for proper investigation and prosecution. We thank everyone who made this possible. We shall continue to update the house as events unfold till we get justice for Fisayo.”
Our reporter tried to reach out to Okezie, to hear his side of the story, but his phone did not connect. A message was also sent to his WhatsApp, but as of the time of filling in this report, he had yet to respond.
