War against Paedophiles in Edo
Rebecca Ejifoma writes on measures by the Edo State government to tackle the menace of adults’ criminal desire for sex with children
Call it child defilement, molestation or sexual abuse, the issue of adults preying on children sexually has been a source of constant irritation to society. Day in, day out, the media is awash with stories of such paedophiles, who delight in molesting underage kids.
By the very nature of complex societies, deviants abound. Over time, however, society has come to regulate and weed itself of behaviours and actions that impede progress, and abuse the rights of others for personal, parochial desires. To do this, laws are passed to punish those who fail to live up to acceptable societal norms.
The depraved indulgences of paedophiles, who prey on children for their primal urges, pose serious threat to society, as they alter the psychology of children and predispose them to be troubled adulthood in future. Much as there are laws to curb this deplorable behaviour, the raging question remains, how many governments have the will to tackle it head- on?
Strategy The Edo State government has for the past couple of months embarked on a war against paedophiles. The war launched against them by the Governor Godwin Obaseki administration is already yielding result across the state. The governor has vowed to rid the state of paedophiles and create a safe society where children can pursue and actualise their dreams.
The strategy includes a mandate handed to the Edo State Universal Basic Education Board ( SUBEB) to train teachers in its Edo Basic Education Transformation (Edo BEST) programme to identify children who are being abused emotionally and physically, shame the paedophiles and hand them over to the law enforcement agencies for prosecution. There is an inter- ministerial committee to drive the campaign, among other responsibilities.
The thinking is that the pupils will not fully benefit from the goodintentioned programmes of the state government if they are continuously exposed to paedophiles, whose actions alter their psychological and emotional balance.
Mandate The mandate for the war against paedophiles began at one of the state’s weekly executive council meetings at Government House in Benin City. Obaseki, after listening to a report of the abuse of a pupil by a grandfather in a primary school in the state, immediately ordered the arrest and prosecution of the grandfather.
Going forward, a visibly worried Obaseki gave a directive for the arrest and prosecution of any person found to be molesting children of school age. This he did by kickstarting a state- wide campaign against paedophiles.
Ever since, the state government has initiated an unrelenting campaign against such adults who molest children, taking the mandate even to the hinterlands.
Inter- ministerial Committee Although Edo State has the Child Rights Law in place, Obaseki went ahead to constitute an interministerial committee to give bite to the campaign against paedophiles in the state. The committee is made up of representatives of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Edo SUBEB, the media, and civil society organisations. It is charged with the task of coordinating efforts to arrest and prosecute those caught in the act of molesting primary school pupils. In the few months that the committee has been in existence, a number of arrests have been made and other cases are still being investigated.
Defilement Cases One of the cases that have been unravelled is that of a 65- year- old man, Matthew Omokhafe, who was arrested for allegedly defiling and impregnating a 13- year- old Primary four pupil in Akoko- Edo Local Government Area of the state. Ezomo and his two sons, Nosa and Festus, were accused of abusing a minor At the time of the arrest, Acting Chairperson of Edo SUBEB, Dr. Joan Osa Oviawe, disclosed that Edo SUBEB played active role in the arrest, adding, “We took a course of action by visiting and ensuring that the case was transferred from the Akoko- Edo Area Division of the Nigeria Police Division to the State Criminal Investigation Department in the state capital, Benin City.”
She said, “With the collaborative efforts of the Child Protection Network ( CPN), SUBEB was able to handover the child’s custody to the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.”
Assuring that the culprit will be charged to court, she said the state government would make sure that justice is served in the case.
Another milestone in the campaign against child molesters in the state is the arrest of 70- year- old Francis Ezomo, and his two sons, Nosa Ezomo, 26- year- old, and Festus Ezomo, 29- year- old. They were subsequently handed over to the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Johnson Kokumo, for allegedly defiling a nine- year- old girl, who is a relative of Ezomo’s wife.
The development came to the notice of the state government when the headmistress of the school the minor attends, reported the incident to Oviawe.
Oviawe said, “The issue came to the limelight when the headmistress of the minor’s school noticed a change of behaviour in the minor and decided to ask her what the problem was. The nine years old girl narrated her ordeal to the headmistress, who then informed the Education Secretary of the local government council where the alleged crime took place. We then swung into action and got the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development involved.”
She continued, “When we could not get the necessary action required from the police, the state government swung into action and these three men were apprehended almost immediately.”
She explained that the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development has taken custody of the child who is now in a safe place and assured that SUBEB would ensure that her education is not truncated.
“What the men have done is bad and their actions have attempted to destroy the life and future of the minor. The three men took advantage of the child and exposed her to trauma. We have waded into the case to ensure justice prevails,” she added.
Meanwhile, Oviawe said the reason for parading the culprits of child defilement is not only to shame them, but to communicate the state government’s avowed stance against
what they have come to represent in society.
A 58- year- old man, Mr. Lambert Ighodaro, who was publicly paraded, was also later handed over to the state police command for prosecution after he raped a 12- year- old girl in Benin City.
Oviawe said, “After the case was reported by SUBEB to the police, Lambert was apprehended by the police. This was after SUBEB received report of the incident from the class teacher of the 12- year- old girl, who is a pupil in one of the primary schools.
She had observed that the girl was always absent from school and contacted the girl’s guardian to find out the cause of her absenteeism.
“The girl told her class teacher how she was being sexually abused by Mr. Lambert Ighodaro, in his house during school hours since 2017. She alleged that the man gives her money after defiling her," she added.
Police Intervention With the arrest of the three men, the police swung into action in building their case. Already, a doctor's report has established that the young girl's hymen was torn.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Johnson Kokumo, assured that his men would investigate the allegation and charge the case to court.
Kokumo said, "Scientific investigation on the minor was sent to the hospital and a doctor report has shown that her hymen has been broken. The scientific report has established that the minor was sexually abused. We will investigate the case and charge them to court."
Sustaining the Tempo The state government maintains that the inter- ministerial committee will help curb the antics of paedophiles, as they are developing a framework to help identify, arrest and prosecute those involved in child defilement in the state.
Teachers who participated recently in the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation programme were trained on ways to identify children who have been abused physically and sexually
Explaining that the state has trained teachers on how to identify children who are being abused physically and emotionally, Oviawe said, “Teachers who participated recently in the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation ( Edo BEST) programme were trained on ways to identify children who have been abused physically and sexually.”