A consultant at the Mirabel Centre (a sexual assault referral centre), Dr. Oyedeji Alagbe, yesterday, told the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court how a father repeatedly defiled his three daughters. Alagbe, who has 14 years working experience at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) told the court that a driver, Michael Ogbar, 51, repeatedly defiled his 10-year-old daughter in their home in Lagos, a medical doctor.
While being led in evidence by the State Prosecutor, Mrs Arinola Momoh-Ayokanbi, the medical doctor told the court that he was before the court to interprete the child’s medical report, which was made by one Dr Olaniyi, who had examined the child but had since left the service of LASUTH.
Alagbe said that the complainant on the day of the examination was accompanied to the Mirabel Centre by the mother of the victim and a female pastor. He said that the victim had told Dr Olaniyi that she was defiled repeatedly by her father and that her younger brother had witnessed some of the sexual abuses.
“The victim said that her father had repeatedly had sexual intercourse with her and that her younger brother (name withheld) had repeatedly seen the father perform sexual acts repeatedly on her. She said the father had threatened her not to tell anyone and that the last incident occurred on April 28, 2016,” he said.
Giving the findings from the genitalia of the complainant, the medical doctor said that the child was defiled vaginally and anally by her father. “She had a foul smelling discharge from the vagina. The hymen was half-moon shaped (crescenteric) with a healed laceration called notch at 6’o clock.
“The lower third of the vaginal canal was easily seen and the posterior fourchette had linear healed lacerations which measured approximately 1.5 centimetres. The genital findings are in tandem with repeated forceful penetration into the client’s vagina and anus,” Alagbe said.
He noted that the statements of the complainant’s mother and pastor corroborated the accounts of the child that she was repeatedly abused sexually by her father. During cross-examination by the defence counsel, Mr. Peter Odoeme, Alagbe said that the injuries on the hymen were consistent with those caused by forceful blunt penetration which could be caused by penis.
“The skillful methodology used by the doctor made the inference that the pattern of injuries found on the client was in tandem with the client’s verbal declaration that a penis was used,” he said.
After the cross-examination of the medical doctor, Momoh-Ayokanbi announced to the court that the prosecution was closing its case. Justice Abiola Soladoye adjourned the case until March 24 for defence to open their case.
Meanwhile, on March 25, 2019, two of Ogbar’s daughters aged 23 and 25 had testified that the defendant had a history of defiling his daughters. They had told the court that Ogbar had also defiled them from their pre-teen years till their teenage years.
The sisters told the court that they had on different occasions fled their home because of the sexual abuse and that their younger sister had revealed the alleged abuse to a teacher in their school, who in turn alerted the authorities.
Testifying on February 25, 2019, Ogbar’s wife told the court that when she confronted her spouse about the allegations, he gave a vehement denial.
“I asked my third daughter about what she told her teacher about the sexual assault and she kept quiet and was staring at me.
“I confronted my husband. He said that it was a gang up and conspiracy against him by our daughters. I told him that a young child cannot come up with such allegations against him. Ever since I confronted him, I had no peace at home, he used to beat and threaten me.”
She said that about a month after the confrontation, he beat her up at her workplace, doused her in petrol and attempted setting her ablaze. But was saved by passersby.
According to the prosecution, the defendant committed the offence at 10.45 p.m. on May 26, 2016 at his home located at Oke-Ogba Street in Badagry, near Lagos.
