•Man fighting daughter’s rape laments job loss, eviction and torment by neighbours
Following the publication of his story in The Nation of October 8, where he alleged his daughter’s rape and an alleged police cover-up, which led to subsequent, prosecution and remanding of the suspect in Kirikiri; Rashidi Olalekan is now pleading for help following series of problems after him. He shared his story with Gboyega Alaka.
For pursuing justice in the matter of his 13-year-old-daughter, allegedly raped by an 88-year-old neighbour, the world seems to be closing in on Mr Rashidi Olalekan, a resident of Amosun Street in Badore community off LASU-Igando Road in Lagos.
First, he was relieved of his driver’s job; next, he got a notice to quit his residence, where he has lived, albeit free of charge, for fifteen years; and to make matters worst, the whole community now seems to have ganged-up against him, condemning him for putting an ‘innocent’ man in jail and hounding him with verbal insults.
According to Olalekan, the only thing his neighbours have not done to him is to physically attack him, whenever he ventures out of his compound. He says the matter has got to a level where even his children are taunted and abused. His two sons, who freely mixed in the neighbourhood, were recently chased away from a compound, where they had gone to charge their GSM phones. Yet this was a place they had always gone to for the same purpose. Even he now has to sneak out as early as possible, whenever he needs to go out – like he did on the occasion of this interview – and wait until it is dark, before returning.
It will be recalled that the 88-year-old Omobolaji Ayoade, a Redeemed Christian Church of God pastor, who lived in the same residence with Olalekan, was alleged to have raped Olalekan’s 13-year-old daughter. According to the story, as told by Olalekan and reported in The Nation of October 8 (2017) titled: “Rape: 13-year-old victim’s father cries out for help,” that incident, which occurred Monday September 25 around 10am, would not be the first time Ayoade would be violating the girl in question, having once fingered her private part, causing her to bleed, when she was a mere 8-month old.
Subsequently the case was heard at a magistrate court in Ikeja, and the judge, based on the evidence at his disposal ordered that the accused be remanded in Kirikiri until the next hearing on November 21.
What now baffles Olalekan, is how the same neighbours who had once blacklisted their compound on account of Ayoade’s untoward behaviour, would turn around and blame him for his incarceration. “I really don’t understand what’s happening. Maybe they think I have taken the matter too far, but I think it’s all sentiment. Should I have allowed him to get away with this act once again. As far as I’m concerned, I did what I had to do because I owe it to my conscience; to my role as a father, and to my daughter. How many of them would have their daughters abused sexually twice and fold their hands?”
Appeal
Olalekan’s major appeal now is to fellow Nigerians. He is in dire need of a job and an accommodation, having lost his job and on the verge of losing his 15-year-old accommodation. Olalekan says his landlord, whom he once worked as a driver for, has issued everyone in the house quit notice, owing to the negative images the house has been drawing on account to this rape matter and others.
“In truth, ” Olalekan says “the quit notice is not for me alone, but my case is really critical because I have also lost my job. My landlord has given us until December to move out. He says he wants to renovate the house, which in actual fact needs some work. I must however use this opportunity to appreciate my landlord. I worked for him as a driver for years and it was on account of this that he gave me a room in the house to live in for free. As I speak, this is my fifteenth year in the house; so all I have for him is gratitude. He even allowed me to continue staying in the house (for free) after an eye problem forced me to quit working for him at the time. He also paid me off with N64,000, which I believe was from the total N400 he was deducting from my monthly salary while I worked for him. In fact it was with that money that I took care of my family while recuperating from the eye surgery.
“Lest I forget, I was fortunate to have another benefactor, a member of my mosque congregation, pay for the surgeries at the Isolo General Hospital, Lagos. ”
Asked what led to his sack, since he told this reporter in that initial report in The Nation that his boss excused him to go and take care of the problem, Olalekan said it turned out to be an indirect way of sacking him. Before then, he had worked for his immediate past boss, also as a driver, for about six months, without any record of carelessness, incompetence or accident.
But he traced the sack to two major incidences: “The first occasion was shortly after the rape incident , when I drove my boss’ step-grand-daughter to Mowe on the outskirt of Lagos. As we got to the Long Bridge just outside Lagos along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, one of the car tyres punctured, but I could not stop, one because it was still about 6am in the morning and because that stretch was notorious for deadly attacks and robbery. So I continued until I got to the end of the bridge, where there was a bus stop and a turning and people were waiting to board buses. There, we met another driver, who was busy changing one of his tyres. He said it was pierced by a sharp object on the bridge but he refused to stop because of the stories he had heard of the place. So we concluded that some dangerous elements might have thrown sharp objects on the road, hoping some drivers would stop once their tyres got punctured.
“Unfortunately, when I returned, my boss, rather than commend my effort, tongue-lashed me for being careless. He blamed me and the lady for driving such long distance and damaging the tyre. Meanwhile, this was somebody I drove for a whole six months and never for once had a tyre problem.
“On the second occasion, we were travelling to Abeokuta, when, as we approached the Tippers’ Garage, my boss ordered me to stop for him to ease himself. As I made to pull over, I bumped into a big crater – and everyone would agree with me that there are lots of them on that road. In my attempt to prevent the car from rolling into a ditch, I manoeuvred it on the edge of the drainage until it rested safely. In the process, the exhaust pipe tore and my boss got furious. But God knows, I did the best I could under the circumstance.”
So now I’m appealing for help. I could make do with any kind of job, so long as it is legitimate. I can ride Marwa (tricycle), I can drive buses, cars and I can even man a school gate; anything legitimate, just to earn money to take care of my family. Aside the girl in question, I have two sons and a wife and they all need caring for.
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