The Delta state Police Command has confirmed the arrest of one Chief Festus Idele Akinima, who allegedly defiled an under aged teenager and got her pregnant. She has been having long sessions of unprotected sexual inter-course with the old man.
Little Miss Ijeoma Ishima, a 13 year old groundnut hawker and JSS 1 student in one of the Secondary Schools in Obiaruku in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State was a victim of child abuse, one of the gravest ills in today’s Nigeria.
In recent times, cases of child defilement, child abuse, rape and dangerous (illegal) abortion, had been a recurrent issue, plaguing our society. And experts in social psychology have attributed the vices to the rising case of poverty, and lack of parental control.
As a child born to parents of poor background Ijeoma, treks every nook and corner of Obiaruku to hawk groundnut everyday, as soon as she returns from school. This micro – enterprise was necessary to supplement her father’s okada riding venture and her mother’s petty trading, to enable the family ere out a living.
It was this unfortunate circumstance of little Ijeoma’s life that a shameless and morally depraved Chief Festus Idele Akinima took undue advantage of and lured the little innocent girl into unwholesome sexual escapades on several occasions and the cat was let out of the bag when Chief Akinima got her pregnant. The pregnancy was five (5) months old when it was discovered by her mother.
Miss Ijeoma’s ordeal started sometime in late July 2018, while walking across the compound of Chief Idele Akinima at Wire Road, Obiaruku.
After patronizing the little girl, Chief Akinima, who developed a lust full interest in her, told her to come and sell groundnuts to him at home everyday because he loves eating groundnuts, unsuspecting Ijeoma was ecstatic with joy as she felt that a big customer had placed an order for daily supplies, unknown to her that Chief Akinima had an evil plan to steal her virginity.
Blank NEWS Online reporter gathered that Chief Akinima skillfully established a relationship with the small girl by giving her the impression that he was going to empower her through his patronage and that therefore positioned him to have easy access to the girl’s sexuality. This was how the unholy affair between Chief Akinima, a 69 year old man, with a 13 year old, J.S.S. 1 student began.
The cat was let out of the bag when Ijeoma’s mother, Mrs. Ishima, started noticing signs of pregnancy in her daughter’s body. According to her, she observed Ijeoma’s enlarged boobs, protruding stomach and weight gain and the signs forced her to question the girl closely before she confessed that she has been having long sessions of unprotected sexual inter-course with the old man.
Mrs. Ishima could not contain the unholy discovery alone. She told her husband who was immediately consumed by anger and immediately, the young man sharpened his cutlass and went after Chief Akinima.
It’s only the good God that saved what could have resulted to jungle justice and murder that fateful day of early January, 2019.
Blank NEWS Online gathered that when Ijeoma’s father got to Chief Akinima’s house, he met his absence and that saved the day.
Subsequently, Chief Akinima, knowing that his bedroom evil deeds had been exposed, began under-ground moves to settle the issue with the family of the defiled girl.
It was however, at this point that a human rights activists (names withheld), reported the matter at the Police Station, Obiaruku. The Police at Obiaruku immediately went into action and invited the victim, Ijeoma and her mother to the Station for interrogation.
The victim, at that time, had been pressured by the accused, Chief Akinima and his cohorts to commit an illegal abortion to terminate the pregnancy and she opened up to the police all transpired.
Blank NEWS Online was reliably informed that one Samuel, who is a brother to the victim’s father, was the man Chief Akinima used to intervene on his behalf on the matter. It was the said Samuel who then appeased the anger of Ijeoma’s parents and got them to cooperate and get the pregnancy aborted.
Thereafter, with funds obtained from Chief Akinima, the team of Samuel and Ijeoma’s mom took Ijeoma to one of the private hospital at Obiaruku on their bid to terminate the pregnancy.
Blank NEWS Online reporter was also reliably informed that doctors at the hospital, after conducting necessary tests, discovered that the that the pregnancy was already five months and therefore refused to carry out the abortion. They instead, advised Samuel and the girl’s mother to desist from carrying out the abortion because it was illegal and that the life of the little girl may be put in danger if they go ahead to do it.
However, while the girl and her mom, along with Samuel, were going from the hospital, an auxiliary nurse/ward attendant cornered them a few meters away from the hospital and told them that she could handle the illegal abortion.
The party subsequently assigned the job to her and she gave them an appointment for the abortion to take place somewhere in Abraka, the neighbouring community, after the deal was struck.
Blank NEWS Online was reliably informed that the auxiliary nurse subsequently gave Ijeoma a cocktail of tablets which the little girl was pressurized to swallow and the following day, she developed several complications arising from the abortion.
When her health condition worsened and she was at the point of death as a result of the unwholesome effects of the abortion drugs, she was rushed to another private clinic, opposite Rain Oil Filling Station, Obiaruku, owned by Head of Department, Primary Health Care, Ukuwnai Local Government Area, Dr. Edwin Igwale, who quickly carried out a life-saving medical treatment on her by cleaning the young girl’s womb of the dead fetus and in the process, saved her life.
Following the confessional statement of Ijeoma and her mother, the Police made several efforts to arrest Chief Akinima without successes as he was said to have evaded police arrest on several occasions.
On the first occasion, he was invited on an appointment and he failed to honour the invitation. On a second instance, police got information that he was in a meeting with other Onotu-Ukus at Chief Dickson Odogwu’s house, the Onotu-Uku General of Obiaruku. When they (police) got to Chief Odogwu’s compound, he (Chief Akinima) on sighting them, escaped into one of the adjoining rooms in Chief Odogwu’s house. The Police had to honour the intervention of the chiefs and later sent a letter to Chief Odogwu to produce him within 24 hours.
Blank NEWS Online learnt that two days later, Chief Akinima was escorted to submit himself to the Police by Chief Andrew Nwabueze, his close friend.
When the victim (Ijeoma) was invited to identify her abuser, she quickly identified Chief Akinima as the randy old man who impregnated her, and of course, the day was saved as Chief Akinima didn’t deny as he accepted responsibility for his sexual assault on the underage girl (Ijeoma).
Equally, little Ijeoma also implicated Chief Andrew Nwabueze as the one who told Chief Akinima to abort the pregnancy and this led to his detention along with Chief Akinima by the police.
Efforts are been made by Chief Akinima to kill the matter and reconcile with the family of the victim.
Blank NEWS Online gathered that Chief Akinima and the victim’s family had already reached an agreement where Chief Akinima hd agreed to pay the sum of two hundred thousand naira (N200,000.00) to the family of the girl, to settle the matter. The agreement was said to have been written by a lawyer (name withheld).
However, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Obiaruku Police Station, Sp Isaac Ogbodu was to be uncomfortable with the scenario whereby the case was not treated with the severity and justice it deserves. The DPO therefore refused to be compromised, as he is known to be a highly disciplined and upright police officer committed to the dispensation of justice wherever the need arises. He was said to therefore, promptly transferred the case to the State CID, police Headquarters, Asaba and subsequently transferred the criminal who could not control his high libido to Asaba, in pursuit of justice. Chief Akinima was however, said to been detained for almost three days at the Police Headquarters, Asaba, before he was released on bail.
Blank NEWS Online is however, yet to find out what will be the outcome of Police headquarters involvement in the matter; whether the police would charge the case to court or not.
When Blank NEWS Online contacted the Police Headquarters at Asaba, the Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), Mr. Andrew Aniamaka, confirmed the incident and said “The DPO did the right thing by transferring the case to the State CID for discrete investigation, pls!.”
However, the human right activists, (names withheld) had vowed to pursue the case to its logical conclusion in his determined bid to ensure that Chief Akinima is made to face the full force of the law, for justice to be done.
