TO many people, especially travellers and motorists that ply 9th Mile, Enugu / Obolo-Afor Road in Enugu State, Opi town, aside its proximity to the University town of Nsukka is well known for honey which is found in large quantity in the area.
However, a strange thing happened in the town recently which drew the attention of media practitioners and human rights activists. There was allegation of rape of old women by teenagers . Precisely, the abomination was committed in Ibeku and Ogbozalla communities in Opi.
Indeed, the outburst of women from the Igbo community over the alleged rape of old women by young boys drew sharp criticisms from members of the public.
What could have led a young boy as young as 17 years to defile a woman whose age range falls between 60 and 80 years? Is it a case of mental derailment or ritual? Does it portray that the Igbo people of South-East geo-political zone are gradually losing total grip of their cherished values, culture and tradition?
The aforementioned questions were on the lips of many people when hundreds of angry women stormed Enugu last week to protest against the alleged sexual abuses.
It was learnt that the teenagers, like hawks, swooped on weak, fragile and helpless women old enough to be their grandmothers. They had on several occasions reportedly took turns on their preys to the extent that one of them was said to have given up the ghost after excessive bleeding.
Ironically, as at the time of going to press, not even the security agents in the area had been able to identify the notorious gang-rapists to ascertain the reason for their abnormal behaviour. Are the boys not human beings? Are they spirits that they could not be traced?
But if there is any highly placed state government functionary that is also upset with the ugly incident at Opi, it is the Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime as he siezed the opportunity of his interaction with journalists in Enugu last week to warn that his government would leave no stone unturned in tracking the rapists. Governor Chime, however, shared the same view with those who could not understand the reasons behind the act of the alleged rapists.
There are two major theories advanced as possible causes of the sexual abuse. One is that the boys might have gone into the abominable acts for rituals to enable them get rich quick while the second is that it was a revenge mission carried out among the rival secret cult groups in the area.
It was gathered that in the night when every other person was sleeping the young boys allegedly sneaked into the homes of the very old women and gang-raped them, a sad development in the communities which had become a recurring problem in the areas and a source of nightmare to the old women. This prompted their outcry to the Umuada Igbo, a Non Governmental Organization based in Enugu..
Last week, the traumatized women felt their predicament in the hands of the mindless youths was becoming unbearable. loaded themselves into three buses, and stormed the office of the Umuada Igbo Nigeria and in Diaspora at Independence Layout Enugu to lodge their protest.
The Umuada Ndigbo assured the victims of quick action.
Bewildered governor Chime lamented the development, described it as very strange. “This is very strange. If you look at the age bracket of the victims, it is quite strange. The culprits, to me, should be examined. I don’t think they are well; they must be sick upstairs. It is not normal that teenagers should be after 62, 80- year-old women, except of course we are told that the young girls have fled the community. If not, you can’t explain this type of a thing.”
Still on the seriousness with which his administration viewed the issue of rape, Governor Chime said:“What we are sure of is that government is not taking the issue of rape kindly. Of course, you know the punishment for rape. So it is serious enough and anybody caught will be dealt with. Rape is a life jail offence. So if a boy of 18 years wants to go to jail for life for playing with an 80-year-old woman, so be it. It’s unfortunate”
Sunday Tribune observed that the angry women did not stop at mere peaceful demonstration in the Coal City as they went spiritual last Saturday at Opi with open prayers for God’s intervention.
The Umuada Igbo mobilized well over 10,000 people, especially women, both young and old, for a prayer and fasting session in the area where the incidents occurred. The aim was to plead for repentance, cleansing and forgiveness of the abomination committed by some youths in the community.
The ceremony which was held at St. Charles Catholic Church, Opi Nsukka, also attracted Umuada Igbo Nigeria (Daughters of Igbo Land), from the seven Igbo speaking states of Anambra, Abia, Imo, Rivers, Delta, Enugu and Ebonyi, including traditional rulers, church leaders, and presidents of different town unions in the affected communities.
The prayer session featured, among other things, praying for the forgiveness of abomination committed by some young boys in Opi Nsukka, forgiveness of some elders in Opi who might be associated with the abomination and songs of praises to the Almighty God.
During the prayer session, the women urged the people of the community to repent and turn to God, asking and begging God to bless the people as they repent of the abomination committed in their land.
The high point of the occasion was the pouring of olive oil on the land of Opi Nsukka for the atonement of the abomination committed by the young boys concerned, as well as praying for all the 12 rape victims and observing a minute silence in honour of the dead rape victim.
Addressing the large crowd of people shortly after the prayer session, the National President General and Founder, Umuada Igbo Nigeria and in the Diaspora, Dr. Kate Uzoamaka Ezeofor, said their decision to put together the fasting and prayer session at Opi Nsukka was informed by the visit of over 100 women from Ogbozalla and Ibeku communities of Opi to the Enugu head office of Umuada Igbo Nigeria on Thursday October 7, 2011, complaining of abomination in their land.
The aggrieved women recalled traumatically how the young boys between the ages of 17 and 25 years no longer allow women of between 60 and 80 years to sleep with their two eyes closed, as they go about raping them in the night, including a blind woman of 70 years.
They appealed to members of Umuada Igbo Nigeria to quickly intervene as their outcry since Easter Monday April 25, 2011 had yielded no positive results from community leaders.
Dr Ezeofor, however, used the occasion to call on leaders of Opi Nsukka, to form a job creation committee so as to keep the youths busy as an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. She assured that Umuada Igbo would help in attracting donor agencies to fund the committee when formed, hoping that this would go a long way in checking crime in the community.
As a matter of fact, traditional rulers and clerics in the area had since waded into the matter with a view to preventing “insane” youths from unleashing further terror on the community.
Already, the Parish priest of St Charles Catholic Church, Opi Nsukka, Rev. Fr. Atama Obodoechina, commended members of Umuada Igbo Nigeria for their deep concern about the abomination committed in the community.
Describing the abomination as a challenge to the people of the area, Rev. Fr. Obodoechina expressed optimism that after the prayer session, the abomination would stop, regretting that what happened in Opi land was an abomination in Igbo culture and tradition.
All the same, in their different remarks, the traditional rulers of Ibeku and Ogbozalla communities , Igwe Agbo Ezea and Igwe F. A. Ogbuabo respectively, spoke in the same manner as they commended Umuada Igbo Nigeria for their concern over what happened in Opi Nsukka in recent times by some youths of the area.
They, therefore, warned that henceforth, any youth caught committing the abomination of raping old women would be made to face the consequences of his unholy act, to serve as a deterrent to others.
The Executive Director, Women Aid Collective (WACOL), saw the act as a violation of the women’s rights and a crime against humanity. She said the rape was a total defilement of the land, Igbo culture, community and societal morality. Ezeilo, who is also a lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus said the perpetrators deserved nothing but imprisonment with hard labour. She enjoined security agencies, women organizations and other stakeholders to join hands to fight the moral decadence.
“They should get nothing but life imprisonment and with hard labour because this is what they deserve. I hope that the police and other security forces will swing into action. We will lend our support and I’m sure many other women groups across Nigeria will lend their supports to stop this violation. This is inhuman,” said the angry Ezeilo.
The President, Business and Professional Women (BPW) Enugu branch, Mrs. Chichi Agbalaka said government should institute a committee to investigate the matter, adding that such investigation would go a long way to prevent a recurrence. “I think there should be a committee on it. You sit down and know the cause, because we have never heard of such before in Nigeria,” she stressed.
Former Enugu State Chairperson of Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) and the Coordinator, South East Women Network (SEWNET), Enugu State branch, Mrs. Maureen Atuonwu, expressed deep concern that parents had abandoned their roles in the proper upbringing of their children. She therefore appealed to parents, particularly mothers to go back to the drawing board so as to fight gross moral decadence in the society.
Last week, succour came the way of the victims and their relations with the assurance from Governor Chime who is the Chief Security of Officer of the State that serious efforts were already on the way to pin down the culprits.
People are patiently waiting for the day security agencies would unearth the reason behind the crime and those behind it.
Written by Jude Ossai,Sunday, 30 October 2011
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