A man whose 14-year-old daughter
was allegedly raped about a week ago by a 67-year-old man in Rivers State,
Nigeria’s South-South, has opted for financial compensation, rather than have
the police go ahead with an investigation.
“She’s my daughter, I have the
right to decide what I want. My decision is also her decision,” Rufus Felix
said on Friday, defending his decision to receive N370, 000 as part
of a settlement.
“They are exposing my daughter to
the world. I am not happy with people who took the matter to Facebook. This is
my daughter, not any other person’s daughter.”
The victim was allegedly raped
inside a hospital facility, Kendox Medical Services Ltd, in Port Harcourt, by
the suspect, Shedrack Ejinwa, who is said to be a former employee of an oil
company.
The girl said Mr Ejinwa bought
plantain chips from her in a shop near the hospital and asked her to come over
to his hospital room for the money.
“I went to his room, knocked at
the door, he told me to come in. As I entered the room, he locked the door,
pushed me to the bed and raped me,” she told medical officers at Doctors
Without Borders who examined her.
Following a petition from a human
rights group, Behind Bars Initiative, Mr Ejinwa was arrested and detained for
days by the police at Elelewon, Port Harcourt.
The case was later transferred to
the state CID.
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The suspect, Shedrack Ejinwa
An official of Kendox Medical
Services Ltd was said to have also been arrested by the police.
Apart from parting with N370,
000, Mr Ejinwa agreed to foot monthly medical bills of the victim till a final
medical examination in February 2020, according to a documented agreement
between him and the victim’s father.
Mr Ejinwa’s lawyer, Amaechi
Anere, was among the six persons who signed the agreement which paved the way
for the former’s release from police detention.
The meetings and the signing of
the ‘agreement’ were done at the police station, encouraged by police officers
overseeing the investigation.
The investigating officer, Rufina
Ukadike, a chief superintendent of police, declined comment on the matter.
The medical director of Kendox,
Kennedy Anyanwuocha, also declined comment.
Mr Ejinwa’s lawyer, Mr Anere,
said, Friday evening, that the agreement his client signed with
the victim’s father could not be said to be an indictment, even though he said
he tried to dissuade him from it.
“This man was in detention a long
time and was ready to do anything to come out. If you go to the police, ask for
his statement, he didn’t say he did it (raped the girl),” he said.
The lawyer said he signed the
agreement “because all the parties accepted the terms in the agreement”.
“I have my personal opinion on
this, but whether the man did it or not is between him (his client) and his
God,” he said.
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