67-year-old Lagos landlord allegedly defiles, impregnates minor

Contrary to her wish, Glory (pseudonym) has assumed motherhood at 14 when her peers are schooling.

The primary five pupil was allegedly defiled by a 67-year-old landlord on Legacy Road, Ayobo, Lagos State, one Sanni Arowolo aka Matagbamole.

It was learnt that Glory’s aunt, identified simply as Bose, had rented a shop from Arowolo where she sold beans.

Glory was said to be in charge of the shop sometime in February when her aunt was not around. Arowolo reportedly approached her that day on the pretext that he wanted to buy food and asked her to follow him into his room to collect a plate.

City Round gathered that the girl asked her younger sister, who was at the shop with her, to follow Arowolo but the man declined, insisting that Glory should go with him.

On getting into his room, the sexagenarian allegedly locked the door and forcefully had sex with the girl, threatening to kill her if she revealed the incident to her aunt.

Glory, it was learnt, kept the assault to herself until in April when her aunt observed that she was pregnant.

Bose told our correspondent that after much persuasion, Glory opened up that it was Arowolo who impregnated her.

She said, “It is something that really breaks my heart each time I think of it. The man was friendly to us. We related with each other as father and daughter. I never expected he could do such a thing.

“I learnt that he wanted to buy beans that day and asked Glory to come to his room for a plate. Glory sent her sister to collect the plate but he insisted she should come. In respect for an elderly man, she eventually followed him to collect the plate. She waited at the doorstep and the man asked her to go in and pick a plate from the basket. As she was searching through the basket, the man shut the door and forcefully had sex with her.

“Afterwards, the man complained to me that she was disrespectful and that she no longer greeted her. I begged him and even asked him to punish her whenever she wronged him. At times, I would beat her for disrespecting him. Sometime in April, I noticed that she was pregnant. I appealed to her to tell me who was responsible for it and he mentioned the man’s name. That was when I realised why she behaved like that to him. I asked her why she didn’t tell me the man defiled her. She said he threatened to kill him.”

The woman stated that she involved her family members in the matter and it was reported at the Ikotun Police Station, leading to Arowolo’s arrest.

Arowolo, however, denied defiling the girl and was about to be released by the police when a human rights group, Advocate for Children and Vulnerable Persons, intervened.

He was eventually charged with defilement at an Ogba magistrates’ court and remanded in prison.

Our correspondent learnt that the girl gave birth to a baby boy on Saturday, October 5.

“As God would have it, the boy takes after him. One of the man’s children even told the police that Glory was 19 years old and they were trying to settle the matter out of court. She was in Primary five because she started school late.

“The man has a wife but she was not around that day. She is a trader who usually spends days on a trip before returning home. His wife was begging us to forgive him. I had to close down my shop out of shame,” the aunt added.

Glory told City Round that her pants were filled with bloodstains after Arowolo defiled her, adding that anytime she wanted to tell her aunt about the incident, the death threat prevented her from doing so.

She recounted, “Baba (Arowolo) came to our shop early that morning and said he wanted to buy food. I was surprised because Baba doesn’t normally eat at that time. I called one of my two younger sisters to follow him and collect the plate but refused. I asked my other sister to follow him, he still refused.

“I then followed him and waited at the doorstep. I asked him to bring the plate but he told me to pick it inside the basket. As I wanted to pick it, he shut the door and told me to remove my clothes. I asked him what he meant but he shut me up.

“He pushed me on the floor and covered my mouth. He slept (defiled) with me and I was bleeding from my private parts. I was afraid to tell my mummy because he had already threatened to kill and bury me at the cemetery beside his house. Any time I wanted to tell my mummy (Bose), I would be in shock and would tell her not to worry again.”

Arowolo is still in prison custody while the next adjourned date is slated for November 2019.