People With Disabilities (PWDs), particularly the female ones, are quite vulnerable hence deserve utmost care and compassion from the society. Regrettably, they have become soft targets for randy men who exploit their vulnerability, sexually abuse them and compound their fragile conditions. The rate at which the menace is growing raises questions about the mental state of the perpetrators and the possibility of using the girls as baby making and sales factories, INNOCENT DURU reports.

Bose, a deaf lady, is heavily pregnant. In fact, she is expected to put to bed before the end of the month.

But cheering as the news appears, the situation surrounding her pregnancy saddens her mother. “She does not know the person that impregnated her,” the distraught mother, Mrs Oladipupo, told our correspondent.

“We have prodded her to reveal the person to no avail.

“The woman who taught her in school has even used sign language to ask her to reveal the person who impregnated her but there was no headway, and she is due to give birth this month,” the worried mother said.

The mother’s frustration is worsened by the fact that it is not her first pregnancy. “She was impregnated before now and she had a child from it,” she said.

She disclosed that the person who impregnated Bose the first time did not show up. “The second person too remains invisible. I have no help or support from anywhere. I only depend on God to carry this huge responsibility. I am the only one seeing to her welfare. I am a mere sweeper.

“I am the one taking care of the first child now. It is not easy for me to take care of the child, not to talk of Bose in her present condition. I am struggling to feed and yet have this enormous burden thrusted on my shoulder.

“I enrolled the child she gave birth to in a public school. She is just six years old.”

The daughter’s first and second pregnancies remain a mystery to the distraught mother and continue to befuddle her because she does not know any man with her.

”I am not aware of any guy as her boyfriend. Even my neighbours said they don’t also know any boy in her life.

“We have laboured in vain to know the person who impregnated her.

“I have the conviction that when God helps me to settle the hospital bills and delivers her safely, He will smoke out the man who impregnated her.”

As tears continued to well up in her eyes, she recalled the exploitation of her daughter’s vulnerability by depraved randy men.

In spite of the distress and contempt that the daughter’s predicament has brought upon her in her neighbourhood, the thought of leaving Bose to face the challenges all alone has never crossed her mind.

“As a vulnerable child, it is not proper to just abandon her to her own fate,” she said in a tone laden with emotion.

Asked when she became aware of Bose’s new pregnancy, she said: “I did not know that she was pregnant until people drew my attention to it. I don’t know how to identify a pregnant woman.

“I thereafter took her to the hospital where it was confirmed that she is truly pregnant.”

As Bose’s due date is fast approaching, the hospital has handed over the bills she would need to settle before they would admit her to deliver the baby.

“The money we were asked to pay in the hospital is very much. I have not been able to pay a dime out of it.”

Asked how much the hospital asked them to pay, she said: “The whole money is about N70,000. She has done some medical tests but they recently asked her to do a PCV test to know her blood level.

“I am still worried about how to sort that out, and now they have asked us to pay about N70,000. I told them that I would bring her to do the test on Monday.

“She goes for ante natal. She even went this morning. She goes with about N2000 each time.

“I always manage to give her N1000 while she also adds N1000 to be able to go for a check-up.

“She is a mobile hairdresser. She supports what I bring with whatever little she gets from her work.”

She told our correspondent that she was yet to report Bose’s case to any government organisation. “But her former teacher is trying to help me to do that,” she said.

If you think Bose’s case is disturbing, then you wonder what would make an able bodied man to sexually abuse an autistic girl. Our correspondent gathered that the bizarre incident occurred in Lekki area of Lagos State sometime last month.

The survivor was sexually abused by a security man.

Unlike Bose, the family members of the girl could not be reached for comments. But a neighbour volunteered some information about the incident.

The neighbour told The Nation that the girl, a pupil, is a special girl with amnesia challenge But before she could forget this incident, she confided in her mother that the man was having an affair with her.

Her words: “On that fateful day, she was seen coming from the security office limping.

“The strange manner she walked caught the attention of some other neighbours who questioned her and the security man.

“In the process, the other neighbours and the mother came but the man denied the accusations.

“The police were eventually invited to investigate the matter.

“The survivor was taken to where she was medically examined and it was discovered that the child had sexual activity on that day.

“She had bruises on her private part, and that was not her first time, based on the examination. She had been deflowered earlier by the suspect.

“He had been brainwashing her by telling her about her private parts and what could be done with them.

“He had promised to make her the woman she wanted to be by doing those things he wanted to do with her.”

The neighbour added: “I know that the suspect was charged to court. I think they are still on it.”

The Coordinator of Lagos State Child Protection Network (CPN), an initiative of UNICEF, Ronke Oyelakin, confirmed the above incident in a chat with our correspondent.

Her words: “We have handled many cases of PWDs involving children.

“Recently, we had a case of an autistic teenager living with a caregiver. She was abused.

“We directed them to report the case officially, and they did through our local government coordinator.

“CPN has coordinators across the 57 local government areas and LCDAs in Lagos State.

“Our coordinator reached out to the caregiver and ensured that the case was officially reported.

“When it was reported, the police tried their best. Because of the minor expenses like making photocopies, going to the crime scene and all of that, it was cumbersome for the caregiver. But we stepped in and were able to speak with the DPO through the gender unit at Ikeja.

“They were able to support and assist us in ensuring that the survivor was attended to.”

She noted that the survivor was taken to the hospital, and the result from the medical centre was taken to the court.

“The process looked as if it would never end, but with the support of the CPN working with the mother and other organisations around that axis, the perpetrator was arrested and kept in custody till the matter was taken to court.

“So far, we are still expecting progress in the case. We are waiting for the DPP’s advice.

“We also have to explain to the survivor’s mother that the DPP’s advice will determine the next line of action.

“If the DPP’s advice says he has no case to answer, then we can’t do much except we want to involve our legal team to follow up.

“CPN has a legal team that handles most of our cases pro bono.”

Citing other cases she said: “We have a case of another PWD who was impregnated.

“She has a low IQ. We don’t know who got her pregnant, but she has put to bed.

“When we found out, we took her to the police station.

“When we went back to the environment where she lives, we found it is a church environment.

“There we found that many young people, single and newly married, are living in the environment. Who are we going to point to as the perpetrator? “She couldn’t say this is the person who impregnated her. We are worried that she will be impregnated again because the child is already a year old.

“Whoever impregnated her may be close and watching, ready to impregnate her the second time and turn her into a baby making and sales factory.

“We also have another one that has been pregnant twice and put to bed twice, and we didn’t know who impregnated her too.”

15 year-old PWD raped, another impregnated 3 times

Lagos State Woman Coordinator of Joint National Association of Persons with Disability, Abigail Turkson, told of how randy men sexually abused a teenager and another PWD in Ikorodu area of the state.

She said: “There is a recent case that happened at Ikorodu. The person with disability was raped. And we took the matter to LASODA and from there to the Ministry of Justice. The perpetrator was jailed, but the family later came and begged us to settle it amicably. But we said no. The perpetrator must face justice. I think the survivor is 15 years old. He just took advantage of her.

“There is another one at the same Ikorodu presently. The mother is the one taking care of three babies she had from different men. Once they impregnate the girl, they will leave the responsibility and go. They don’t take away the babies. The mother of the PWD is the one taking care of the three babies. She’s even the one who reported the matter because the burden is overwhelming her.”

She added: “Even we, the adults, they do similar things to us. Once they come to you and you are pregnant, they will abandon you. What they want is just to have sex with you and go away. They don’t want you to be recognized with them as a wife, but they want to sleep with PWDs.”

Turkson noted that sexual abuse of PWDs is more rampant than “you have with able people. Sexual violence against people with disabilities is a serious issue that is hidden and underreported because people with disabilities are afraid of stigmatization and discrimination.

“Many people with disabilities rely on others for daily care. But the perpetrators are mostly their caregivers, their family members, those helping them with house chores. That makes it more vulnerable for them to report the case of sexual and gender-based violence.”

A caregiver, who gave her name simply as Nini, told our correspondent of another young PWD already put in the family way. “The survivor is autistic. She’s pregnant and unfortunately, she lost her mother recently.

“I am always worried about how she would wriggle through the herculean task of carrying the pregnancy to maturity and giving birth.

“Thereafter, who will help her nurture the baby and who will provide the financial support for both of them?

“These are serious issues that the society should ponder on and work towards ending the menace.

Deaf student drops out of school after sexual abuse

Checks revealed how a deaf student had her academic dreams truncated by a randy teacher in Badagry area of Lagos State.

A teacher who was in the know of the incident told our correspondent that the girl was in secondary school while the man was a part-time teacher in a primary school.

The teacher, who gave her name simply as Suzy said: “She was staying with the man because the man’s house is closer to the school than hers.

“She resides far inside Lagos, and that was why the parents agreed that she should be staying with the teacher and his family in Badagry, so that she would be getting to school on time and with less stress.

“She would stay with the family from Monday to Friday, and she would go home on Friday after school to come back the following Monday.”

She said as time went by, the teacher started having intercourse with her. “He always threaten to deal with her if she disclosed the matter to anybody. He also threatened to eject her from his house if she revealed his amorous relationship with her to anybody.”

Following the threat, Suzy said the girl endured the abuse and the pains, and kept it all to herself.

“As time went on, she became pregnant, and the teacher gave her some pills to flush the pregnancy.

“It was at that point that the girl opened up to a friend who informed another teacher about the ugly development.

“The teacher in turn escalated the matter, leading to an investigation into the issue.”

After the investigation, Suzy said, “we found that that was not the first abortion that the man had pressurised the girl to do. He had been making her abort pregnancies for a very long time.

“The wife wasn’t aware of the whole thing happening under her roof. The deaf community eventually took up the case and reported it to the police.”

She continued: “Eventually, the girl’s father asked her to leave Badagry.

“When we tried to persuade the father to allow her to come back to school, he was willing but there’s no accommodation for her, and I think that was the first problem they faced getting her to return to school.

“I think they stay around Igando, and from there to Badagry is a long distance.

“The girl abandoned her education and left Badagry because of the embarrassment the incident caused for her.

“She was acquiring skills in trading the last time I inquired about her. She was 16 going to 17 years when the incident occurred.

“The man in question has also left Badagry. I think he is now in Kwara State.

“He left Badagry with his family because of the shame that greeted the atrocities he had committed.

“The school is the only public special secondary school in District 5. The other ones that are available are private schools.

“The father said the private schools are too expensive for him.”

Boy sexually abuses deaf pupil, invites friend to join exploitation

Suzy also recounted another incident where an able bodied student wanted to turn a deaf student into a sex toy after some time of having sexual relationship with her.

Her words: “We had one earlier between a deaf student and a male student who had no hearing challenge. The boy was having intercourse with the girl in the toilet.

“The boy would take the girl to the back of the public toilet after school hours and make love to her there.

“He would give her N200 and at other times N300 after the act.”

At one point, she said, “the boy invited another boy to join in having intercourse with the girl in question.

“The move infuriated the deaf girl and she raised the alarm.

“A passer-by saw them and escalated the matter. We investigated and the boy was arrested.

“He was over 18 years old while the girl was just about 14 years old.”

From her experience, she said, “the regular students always want to take advantage of the deaf girls’ disability. They always tell them that the hearing female students enjoy sex and they too should try it with them and get the enjoyment.

“The deaf girls consequently think it is a normal thing that everybody does and would want to do it too.”

Seeking justice drains survivors’ families – Child Protection Network

Lagos CPN coordinator, Ronke Oyelakin, is worried that the quest for justice by survivors’ families is often hampered by pockets of distressing financial demands.

“We have had cases of families of PWDs paying through their noses when seeking justice. It is emotionally draining, psychologically draining, physically draining, and financially draining. It is a whole lot because you want to get justice,” she said.

Citing the case of the girl sexually abused around Lekki, she said: “There was a whole lot of expenses incurred going to court, because the perpetrator would have to be in court with the police – the IPO handling the case.

“We do not expect the perpetrator and the survivor to be in the same vehicle. So we have to charter as many vehicles as possible to convey everyone.

“Photocopies would be made, duplicate copies and all of that, paying for Black Maria for them to carry the suspect back to the correctional facility.

“The family was shocked by the enormity of the cost. They thought the process was going to be easy and they were not going to make any payment for anything, but I told them that justice isn’t free, and that is the truth. Somebody must pay for it, and the cost can overwhelm people.

“The reason why we are speaking out is because we have so many others with disabilities that have gone through different forms of abuse.

“When it comes to sexual abuse, it is really pathetic, because we feel their vulnerability is the major risk that made such act to be perpetrated.

“We want to kindly request that it will be good to give a more holistic support to persons with disabilities without making them pay through their noses – without having to do anything when it comes to payment, because the process can be discouraging.”

She pleaded that every member of the society should keep a tab on PWDs to save them from men who prey on them.

“Everyone has a role to play. If you know anyone with a disability within your vicinity, it is very important to put double eyes on them.

“We should all come together to protect them from any form of abuse.

“The rate at which children and women with disabilities get pregnant without knowing who impregnated them is alarming. That is why we are speaking out.

“It is the duty of all to make sure we do not violate their rights. They also have their own rights.

“The government should find a way to help us to expedite justice when it comes to the cases of PWDs, and ensure they don’t pay through their nose.” (The Nation)