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| Emmanuel Ngene |
Emmanue
Ngene, like most aspiring young Nigerians whose lives were mortgaged to a
battered inflation-driven economy of early 80s, sought survival overseas. He
chose the United States as his destination for better life. He relocated in
1981. He would discover that life in God’s own country was just an imaginary
tale. On arrival, Emmanuel desired education. But he had no money. Survival in
a strange place, alone, was then important to him. He engaged in menial jobs to
support his dreams of a better life here.
Years
after he adapted to the lifestyle and surviving the culture shock of a different
environment, Emmanuel returned to his hometown in Eastern Nigeria in search of
a wife. He found love in Mary, a home girl. They married months after. Emmanuel became a regular visitor to his
homeland from America; frequenting his village to be with his new wife and
family. He returned every holiday, especially Christmas, to celebrate with his
wife and other members of the family. Their first child, a baby girl, was born
on November 9, 1998 in Nigeria. The couple would have two additional children
after the birth of their daughter.
In June
2007, Emmanuel’s wife and children came to the United States to live in a
two-bedroomed apartment with their father. Family and friends said that marital
problems manifested when the wife was shocked at the strange standard of living
in America as compared to what she was used to in Nigeria. She was also alleged
to be disappointed that her husband was a Taxicab driver, an unsteady source of
financial income. Emmanuel was gone all day, driving a taxi from morning and
returned home at night with not enough income to support the family.
Soon,
the parents began arguing about money. Mary allegedly complained regularly of
being bored at home, caring for the children. Emmanuel, frustrated by her daily
musings about life in the United States and insufficient income, encouraged his
wife to get certification for CNA: Certified Nurses Aid: she did, passed and
got employed at one of the nursing homes as a care giver: providing ageing
American population with daily assisted living and care. His wife’s new job,
allegedly introduced her to a new social environment. She immediately began to
explore her new found friends and friendship within her work place. Emmanuel
suspected a change in his wife’s attitudes: she was no longer the charming
obedient wife he had in Nigeria. She
would refuse his sexual desires and appeals. The marriage became tumultuous.
They
were drifting apart as husband and wife: Emmanuel complained to his friends
that his wife was always gone and seemed no longer interested in the marriage.
It also affected his taxi cab business. He often returned home midday to make
sure the children were fed and cared for.
Most
times, he alleged the wife was gone. When he asked her where she had been, she
yelled at him: ‘mind your business. I am a grown woman and I can do whatever I
want to do.’ Emma was raging inside. He thought he had a decent beautiful wife
that loved the family and the children. He thought it was until death do them
part! A wife he married and suffered to bring to America. Their children were
drifting apart too.
The
circumstances that led Emmanuel Ngene into a lifetime jail are too complex. The
stories are bizarre from both sides. Ngene’s family sources, almost seven years
after he was found guilty, still believed he was railroaded by his wife and the
judiciary. Their stories remain consistent, each alleging that Ngene’s wife,
Mary, may have coerced her daughter to lie that her father raped and assaulted
her. Part of the family version said that during one of Ngene’s lunch visits
home to check on the children, he allegedly found his then young daughter in an
explicit compromising position with a neighborhood boy, in the family’s living
room!. He became agitated, asked the boy to leave immediately. Soon after the
boy left, he grabbed his daughter and spanked her intensely. Mother allegedly
walked in as dad was spanking their daughter. She jumped on him and began to
scratch and scream. Their daughter, disengaged from the whip, cried profusely
from the burns of the belt whipping. She had lacerations on her butt. Their
mother, while restraining Emmanuel, instructed their daughter to dial 911. Few
minutes later, police came to their door, handcuffed Emmanuel and took him down
town. The police officer, noticing the lacerations on the girl’s body,
requested for the ambulance to take the young girl and her mother to hospital
for medical observations and interrogation. Emmanuel was hauled to jail!
However,
in a court document filed, the court posited, “One day in August 2007,
defendant asked Cindy(to protect the minor child, the court identified her as
Cindy, not her real name) to help him check his email on the computer in his
bedroom. After they had finished with the email, defendant told Cindy to stay
in the room while he went into the bathroom. He came out wearing only his
underwear and a T-shirt. He asked her if she knew what sex was and then pulled
down her pants while she was lying on the bed. He pulled off his underwear, got
on top of her, and had vaginal intercourse with her. On 31 August 2008, Cindy’s
mother took Cindy to the emergency room at Wake Med where they met with a
nurse, Kimberly Lewis, and a doctor, Dr. Chris Johnson. Ms. Lewis did a
head-to-toe assessment of Cindy and observed bruises on her arms. Cindy told
her the bruises came from a broomstick. Cindy also informed Ms. Lewis that she
had been sexually assaulted many times.
“Dr.
Johnson took a basic history and examined Cindy to determine if she needed
immediate treatment. Cindy told him that defendant had been having vaginal and
anal intercourse with her over the past year. Because she had not been
assaulted within the past 72 hours, Dr. Johnson did not perform a rape kit. Dr.
Johnson’s examination of Cindy was limited to her external genitalia and
looking for signs of trauma, of which he saw none. He diagnosed Cindy with
alleged sexual abuse. He noticed that Cindy appeared somewhat shy and that her
mother was “appropriately concerned and worried.”
Over the
course of Cindy’s fourth grade school year, defendant engaged in vaginal
intercourse with Cindy approximately 10 times. Approximately three of these
times, defendant had her turn over on her stomach so he could also penetrate
her anus. In August 2008, Cindy finally disclosed to her mother what defendant
was doing.
At the
hospital, the doctors during examination found that she had been penetrated.
The police officer asked her who may have penetrated her; she looked at her
mother, seeking protection. Her mother instructed her to answer that it was her
father! She reluctantly told the officer that her father had penetrated her!
The officer asked if she was sure, she bowed and fearfully said yes sir!”
However,
Emmanuel Ngene denied the rape charges and penetration of his daughter. He
contended that her daughter was sexually molested and penetrated by a boy at
her school in Nigeria, the head mistress of the daughter’s school called him
when the incident happened and he travelled home to remove his daughter from
the school because of the molestation.
The
court wrote thus:
“Defendant
first contends that the trial court erred in not allowing him to testify
regarding his claim that Cindy had been sexually assaulted in 2006 by someone
else while in Nigeria. He argues that this evidence was admissible under N.C.R.
Evid. 412(b) because it provided an alternative explanation for the
paediatrician’s physical findings. Although Rule 412 generally excludes
evidence of a complainant’s prior sexual behaviour as irrelevant, it provides
an exception for “evidence of specific instances of sexual behaviour offered
for the purpose of showing that the act or acts charged were not committed by
the defendant.” N.C.R. Evid. 412(b)(2).
“Here,
defendant testified during voir dire that, in 2006, he received a call from his
wife that Cindy had been sexually assaulted at school, was walking funny, and
was bleeding. He claimed that he flew home to Nigeria and transferred Cindy
from Graceland Private School, where the assault had supposedly occurred, to
another school.
“When
Cindy and her mother were questioned on voir dire, however, each denied that
any sexual assault had occurred. Cindy acknowledged changing schools, but her
mother explained that she had moved Cindy to a different school because
Graceland Private School was too expensive.”
Emmanuel
remained in the county jail as prosecutors began to build a case against him.
The prosecutor offered him a deal: Plead guilty and spend 15 years in jail or
go to trial and if found guilty, could face 250 years to life. He refused the
deal and sought to be tried because it was an abomination, in his culture, for
a man to sexually molest his own daughter and penetrate her.
He felt his
innocence and said that he would rather die in jail than plead guilty to a
crime he did not commit. It took one year for Emmanuel to go to trial. It only
took the jury three hours to return with a guilty verdict. Emmanuel was
sentenced to 300 to 369 years in prison. On December 3, 2009, Emmanuel Ngene
began serving his sentence. He was preparing to travel to Nigeria to bury his mother
when he was arrested.
“On 22
September 2008, a grand jury returned 15 separate bills of indictment, charging
defendant with four counts of indecent liberties with a child, four counts of
incest, three counts of first degree sexual offence, and four counts of first
degree rape. Following trial, the jury found defendant guilty of all 15 counts
and also found the existence of an aggravating factor: that defendant had taken
“advantage of a position of trust or confidence to commit the offence or
offences.”
The trial court entered 15 separate judgements. The court sentenced
defendant to four consecutive aggravated-range sentences of 300 to 369 months
imprisonment for the four counts of first degree rape; three consecutive
aggravated-range sentences of 300 to 369 months imprisonment for the three
counts of first degree sex offence; four consecutive presumptive-range
sentences of 16 to 20 months imprisonment for the four counts of incest; and
four consecutive presumptive-range sentences of 16 to 20 months for the four
counts of indecent liberties with a child. Defendant timely appealed to this
Court.”
I
recently contacted Ms. Mary Ngene for interview with regards to this essay. Her
response:” If you write anything about me, I will sue you!”
SOURCE: PUNCH
SAY "NO" TO RAPE AND SEXUAL ABUSE -
WALK AGAINST RAPE NIGERIA!
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