17-year-old Roda Timothy, was full of expectations
when she left her home state in Plateau for Lagos, last year. She had hoped to
secure employment, earn a decent living and be in a position to help her family
back home.
However, her lofty dreams were shattered barely few
days after she was employed as a maid. She was allegedly raped and impregnated
by her Lebanese boss who later kicked her out of his house when all his efforts
to abort the pregnancy failed.
Her boss popularly called Hussein, works as a
professional chef for highbrow companies in Lagos and resides on Allen Avenue,
Ikeja agreed to pay Roda N10, 000 monthly. Two months after impregnating her,
Hussein sacked her after paying her a paltry sum of N19,000 for the two months
she worked for him.
Roda who pleaded passionately that her photograph
should not be taken then narrated how it all happened: “I started working with
the man as a maid immediately I came to Lagos. He agreed to pay me N10,000
monthly as my salary. When I packed into the house, my boss was not around but
he came back two days later from his work place.
How I was raped:
“On this particular day, my boss was about to leave
the house when his brother asked me to go and meet him and collect some money
to purchase food items for the house. I knocked on his door, he answered and
asked me to come inside. When I entered, I told him that his brother asked me
to collect money to purchase food items. He said okay and got up from where he
was sitting, and pretended as if he wanted to get the money before he grabbed
me forcefully. I struggled with him and was shouting but he over powered me and
raped me.
Second round of rape:
“The following month when I discovered that I had
missed my monthly circle, I informed him about it but instead of finding
solution to it, he raped me a second time. I then kept disturbing him about the
growing pregnancy. What he did was to send me to a nearby chemist with a
prescription but the attendant refused to attend to me without his presence. He
later went with me and bought some drugs which he asked me to take to abort the
pregnancy. I took the drugs but nothing happened. After some days, he bought
another set of drugs which I took, yet, nothing happened.
I then became very worried and was disturbing him to
find a solution to the problem he caused. That was when he started threatening
me and later sacked me after paying me N19,000. I was so afraid that when I
went back to my brother who brought me to Lagos, I didn’t tell him that I was
pregnant for my boss. I was just praying that the pregnancy will just disappear
but it did not. Unknown to my brother that I was pregnant, he got me another
job where I worked for four months as a maid before my new employer discovered
that I was pregnant and told my brother.”
Her brother speaks:
“Roda’s brother, Joshua also narrated his story to
Crime Guard. According to him, “It was January this year that we discovered she
was pregnant. Her stomach was still flat and we had to take her for scan. It
was then she revealed that her former boss,Hussein, was responsible for her
pregnancy. So, we went to Hussein’s house to confront him but he denied being
responsible for the pregnancy. We therefore reported the case to the
Immigration Department in Ikeja and on February 9, 2016, he was arrested but
was later released.
From Immigration to NAPTIP:
“From immigration department, my sister was taken to
the National Agency For The Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP.
Initially, officials of NAPTIP said she would be with them until she delivers
but last week, officials of the agency came and asked me to come and take my
sister back as she will soon deliver. The pressure and threats from NAPTIP
became too much to the extent that I don’t know whether they are protecting the
interest of my sister who was abused by a foreigner or that of the foreigner”.
Joshua lamented the atrocities perpetrated by some expatriates resident in
Nigeria, saying “ these atrocities continue unabated because the government and
relevant authorities ignore the plight of helpless victims who are at their
mercy,”he stated. When Crime Guard visited the residence of the Lebanese, Mr
Hussein in Ikeja, he was not around but a lady in the house promised to inform
him about our visit and get back to us.
Promise by Hussein’s nephew:
The next morning, one Mr Hassan called claiming to
be the nephew of Mr Hussein Ali. He said his sister informed him of our visit
to his residence the previous day. According to him, whatever happened between
his Hussein and Roda was a mistake and that they were doing everything within
to resolve the issue while Hussein has agreed to take care of Roda until she
gives birth. He however added that a DNA will be carried out to determine the
paternity of the baby but the family will not refuse to take responsibility.
“We are doing everything to ensure she delivers safely,” he added.
NAPTIP remains elusive:
However, when Crime Guard visited Ikeja Zonal office
of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP),
the Director was said to have traveled out of Lagos on official duty. A lady
who claims to be the Public Relations Officer of the Agency informed Crime
Guard that the Zonal director was the only authorized officer who can speak
with the press on the issue. She then collected phone contacts and promised to
arrange a meeting with the director once he gets back. But she didn’t get back
till date. Further efforts made to contact her proved abortive.
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