• How my landlord, brother molested me
At 37, Princess Izuchukwu Ajuobi, is a beautiful woman by all
standards. Her beauty is such that attracts the attention of men,
despite the fact that she’s a mother of two.
However, this beautiful woman is
disabled in one leg and one hand. She was born with the deformity.
Although Ajuobi is not bothered about her deformity, there’s one thing
that takes away her happiness. It’s the fact that people take advantage
of her condition to molest her. One of such experiences is her raw deal
with her landlord and his brother. She was molested and beaten blue and
black. Her offence? She refused to have sex with the two men involved.
Narrating her ordeal to Daily Sun, Ajuobi said: "I
had vowed to remain a virgin till the day I would marry, until a man
strolled into my life, swearing by his life that I was the angel he was
looking for. I fell for his tricks and he deflowered me in the name of
marriage, only for him to throw me out, after having two boys for him.
I decided to move ahead with life.
As a single mother living with children, every one wants to have sex
with me. It happens to all women. Even when you decline they will start
looking for a way to harm you. It is worst when you are disabled, like
me and you cannot fight for yourself.
Men take advantage of your condition to do you wrong. That was my
situation."
On what happened in her case, she stated:
"In April, 2011, I
packed into an apartment I paid for in April, 2011. Three months after I
moved in, my landlord’s brother, Uwahamaka, started approaching me for
sex.
My landlord, who hails from Umuokpuru, Afarata, Ibeku, also made
advances to me. Both of them would come at night or at odd hours during
the day to knock at my door, asking me to open. They would boldly tell
me that they wanted to sleep with me. "When my landlord’s brother is not
around, my landlord would tell me not mind him, stating that he was
not responsible.
The landlord would say that he was the one that would treat me well,
asking me to befriend him. I looked at myself and said, is it because I
am in this condition that a man, who is old enough to be my grand
father, would be angling to sleep with me? My landlord is over 60 years.
It is as a result of my refusing him and his brother sex that is
makes them angry."
On harassment The women stated: "My landlord would
come knocking on my door, asking me to open for him, for us to have sex.
I would always tell him that I don’t want to do anything with him. They
want to make me a sex toy. My refusal infuriated them both and they
vowed to deal with me.
That was the beginning of my problem. One day, I was cooking for my
children and Uwahamaka came and started abusing me, calling me names,
for no reason. I refused to talk back at him. He accused me of splashing
water on his door and started breaking my rubber containers.
Before I could do anything, he threw away the rice I was cooking. "He
came after me with chain and cutlass, threatening to cut off my
remaining leg. He started beating me, to the point of attempting to push
me into the fire. He did hit my artificial leg with chain causing it to
break. I crashed to the ground like a bag of sand, having lost control
of my supporting leg."
Ajuobi stated that she made a report to the police, leading to the
arrest of the man. "The police arrested him, after which they mandated
him to buy my artificial leg. He told the police that he would not pay,
that the matter should be charged to court. It was after this that
they started maltreating me in their yard. They started closing the
gate at 7 p. m., just to frustrate me. My landlord said that if I don’t
pack out of his house, he would make me blind and nothing will happen
since his kinsman from Ibeku is the governor.
He gave me quit notice, even when my rent is still running. "I
traveled to my village in Ikwuano to stay because they were always
coming to my room to attack me. They usually beat me up and flog me
mercilessly. One day, I told my brother how they were maltreating me
and he went to them to ask them why. They threatened to deal with him. I
have found an accommodation, but I have no money to pay. Now, they have
driven me out of their house, while my rent has not expired.
"On April 16, I came back from the village, with one of my uncles,
who was to travel to Lagos the following day. They started to molest me,
as usual and eventually hit me with a stone on the hand that was
deformed. We got to the house around 8.30 pm and they blocked my door,
insisting that my uncle would not enter.
They accused me of bringing my boyfriend and said I he would not
sleep there. I must say that whenever any male visitor comes to my
house, they would get angry.
The vicious attack
"When later I opened my
door and entered, his daughter in-law, Ngozi, entered my room and
started slapping me, in the presence of my uncle, just to cause a fight.
My uncle asked her to stop, but she refused and then my landlord came
into the room and asked my uncle who he was. My uncle told him that he
was my brother and my landlord ordered him to leave and the time was
about midnight. They putt off the lights and also beat my uncle. They
pursued him out and closed the gate on him around midnight. They
attacked me thereafter and I passed out. “They took away my bag
containing N200,000, which I was given at the village to pay for a
house.
When I regained consciousness, Uwahamaka again hit me with a stick. I
passed out again, only to regain later. When I regained consciousness, I
started shouting for help, but there was nobody to help me because they
had closed the gate. In the morning, I took my kids to the police
station and reported the matter a second time. "The police did nothing. I
don’t know if they had thrown my things away. I am now homeless,
hanging from place to place with my children.
That is my predicament. I want the world to know. They say that there
is nothing I can do to them. I am calling on the relevant authorities
to come to my aid. I am a graduate of Accountancy and I need job to take
care of my children, any type of job. Sometimes I feel that life has
not been fair to me. This has even affected my children’s schooling
because we don’t have a place of my own. I don’t have any money to hire a
lawyer and they know this."
In their statements of defence at the police Area Command, Umuahia,
the landlord and his brother alleged that Ajuobi scaled the fence into
their compound at an odd hour with her uncle and children, causing them
to confront them.
However, a police source that pleaded anonymity told Daily Sun
that the investigation they conducted revealed that Ajuobi could not
have scaled any fence with her bad leg and hand, as alleged. A medical
report from Federal Medical Center, Umuahia, where Ajuobi was treated
confirmed that she sustained injuries as a result of beatings she
received.
Daily Sun
