EXCLUSIVE: Man Rapes Daughters, 15-Months Old Grand daughter

By Chiemelie Ezeobi

Man's inhumanity to man was again brought to the fore as seven year old Chidimma Ehijere, today regaled onlookers at the office of the Lagos State Police Public  Relations, Oduduwa, Ikeja, how her father had repeatedly had carnal knowledge of her despite her appeals.

It was gathered that the suspect, Mr. Sylvester Ehijere, had continually had carnal knowledge of his two daughters; 23-year old Favour right from when she was 17-years old and then seven-year old Chidimma before he put his a year and three months old grand daughter into the equation. 

The traumatised but otherwise smart and resilient primary three pupil of one of the schools in Ejigbo area of the statem Chidimma, said her father slept with her for the first time last year, a beastly act he continued with everyday despite the act tearing the fabrics of their family. 

"He covered my mouth with his big hand so that I wouldn't shout and then put his manhood inside me. It was painful. I was crying and begging him to stop but he refused. 

"When he finished, he told me that he would pluck out my eyes and those of my mother and brothers and sisters if I tell anyone what he did to me. He also promised to buy me cars, biscuits, sweets, clothes and shoes but he did not buy it," Chidimma said  matter of factly.

She continued, "He always targets when my mother goes out and then he will first use his finger in my private part before he will use his penis. Even when my mother tried to defend me he beat her up. I am tired. Now he has done the same thing to my small sister. 

"The day he slept with her he pursued my brother Kingsley and I outside and locked the door. I knew what he was doing to her but I couldn't tell anyone because my mother was not around. When he came out, he was sweating all over."

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said the man will soon be charged to court on charges of defilement which attracts life imprisonment and is punishable  by law. 

She said, "The suspect is in the habit of sleeping with his daughters and now his grand daughter has joined the equation. We have the doctor's report which shows that the girls have been defiled and are no longer virgins.

"Their hymens were brutally torn and the doctor who established that they were defiled advised for them to be taken for Human Immune Virus (HIV) tests. The wife who was fed up with his act reported the case to the Ejigbo Divisional Police Officer, Oliver Inoma-Abbey, a Chief Superintendent of Police."

For  the suspect's wife, Mrs. Margaret Ehijere, the stroke that broke the camel's back was when the suspect also raped her grand daughter, a year and three months old Tega after serially raping her two daughters for years.

She said the suspect who she had been married to for over 23 years had first had carnal knowledge with their first daughter, Favour in 2006 when she was a mere 17-years old. 

She said, "I am a professional caterer and in 2006 I went to Abuja for a catering job where I was booked to spend five days. But at about 1am, my first daughter hysterically called me on the phone. She said her father had raped her that night. I lost that job because I had to go back to Lagos in the morning to be with my daughter. 

"When I confronted him, he beat me up and I had no choice but to report to his mother. I was shocked when she started abusing me. She said I was framing up her son. I reported to his father and did not get any favorably response either. 

"Seeing that nobody believed me, he continued to molest our daughter and each time I confronted him earned me a beating. I had no choice but to leave him when I got fed up of allowing him sleep with me and our daughter. And there is no way he can say I ever shield away from my marital duties. I was always available for him in bed so I don't know what pushed him into this act."

According to her, she moved out with her six kids and started life afresh. However, in 2011, his family went to appeal to her to forgive him and take him back. Although she initially refused, she said she reconsidered when her apartment was sold. 

"They sold the house I live in and I had no money to look for another accommodation because I had lost my job. I had no choice but to move back last year after he swore to keep off my daughters.

"I really thought he had changed but in August last year, caught him in a compromising situation with our last daughter Chidimma. I called her out and she poured out how her father had constantly been abusing her.

"Again, I confronted him and he beat me up. I had to pick my daughter and run to his brother Emmanuel's house, where I stayed for three days before I went back home."

Mrs. Ehijere said she tried all that was within her powers to make sure she never left the daughter with the man alone. Although she succeeded, she only managed to turn his attention to the his grand daughter. 

On how she found out that he had visited his bestial act on their grand daughter, she said, "Because my daughter works, we decided to put her daughter at a day care in Ejigbo. I have always been the only one that brings her back at 6pm everyday from the day care.

"But on that particular day, my husband went to the daycare but the teacher refused to release the child. He harassed her and she released Tega to him not knowing that he had sinister plans. According to Chidimma and Kinglsey, their father had sent them out of the house on the pretext of buying beans for them. 

"Even when they came back with the beans, he refused to open the door. But when he finally did, he was soaked with sweat. Meanwhile, my grand daughter was screaming and crying till I came back in the evening."

The aggrieved mother said although she did not understand why the baby was crying, she had attributed it to hunger. When she picked her up to bath  her for the night, she met the shocking discovery of blood in the baby's pampers. 

Although the suspect had earlier denied the allegations when the wife was not around, he couldn't say it to her face when she came out, rather he went on to grumble that she talks too much.