According to Mr and Mrs Osarhiakhi Ebohon, on June 13,
2015, a baby was dumped at Obazuaye Street in Evbuareke
Quarters, Uselu, Benin City, at about 11am.
Residents saw a newborn baby wrapped in a black nylon
bag. The Ebohons, among other residents, placed curses on
whoever might have thrown the child away.
The police was invited to take away the baby who was later
sent to the Ministry of Women Affairs in Edo State.
That night, Mrs. Ebohon observed that their oldest
daughter, Joy, was acting different, so she tried to find
out what her daughter’s problem was, to no avail.
So she told the husband to probe Joy to know what
the problem was.
At about 5am the following day, Mr Ebohon woke Joy up
and forcibly asked her to tell him the cause of her unease.
Joy then opened up to her parents that she was the one
who dumped the child on the street.
Her angry father went to the police to report the matter.
Mr Ebohon then handed over the daughter to the police for
prosecution.
She was arraigned before a Magistrate Court in Benin by
the police on June 17 and was remanded in Oko prisons
pending advice from the state Director of Public
Prosecution (DPP) on the matter.
Now, Mr and Mrs Ebohon are appealing for the release of
the daughter whose first son is barely two years old.
Narrating the incident, Ebohon, a farmer, said:
“I decided to go to the village to farm because of
the difficulty to get money to train my children. My
daughter, Osarhiakhi Joy, in jail now, left
secondary school some years back. She is my eldest
daughter and she is 28 years old.
About five years ago, she wrote her SSCE and
passed all her papers and got admission into the
College of Education, Ekiadolor, but I couldn’t pay
the fees. I begged her to be patient till some other
time. Before I knew it, she became pregnant. I
called the boy responsible and told him that I
didn’t want any stupid act and asked if he was
going to marry her and he said yes.
Then I told him the condition that my daughter
wanted to further her education by studying
pharmacy and he said okay. So she gave birth to the
first child, a boy, who is about two years now. After
that, she told me she couldn’t be staying at home,
that she wanted to learn a trade before gaining
admission and pending when the husband, or
myself would be financially okay to send her back
to school. I said it was okay. That is how she started
learning fashion designing.
She told her husband to come and beg me so that,
at times, she could be staying with me because her
place of work is closer to us and they don’t have
their personal house. That is how she stated living
with us again. I never knew she was pregnant this
second time because I don’t stay in Benin; even the
mother that stays in Benin never knew about it. I
didn’t know she will be this clever to cover-up
without our notice. “On June13, I came to Benin
from the village to relax.
I discovered people were shouting that they
discovered a baby very close to my compound. I
never had the belief that it was my daughter who
gave birth to the baby. I was taking my siesta that
afternoon when I woke up and ran to the place and
I had been hearing the cry of a little baby thinking
it was the next compound. I and my wife were
among the first person to place curse on the culprit.
I was the same person who organized to go call the
police that what the person did was bad.
“The next day when I was ready to go back to the
village, my wife called me to say I should ask our
daughter that the way she was looking at her, there
were changes in her. Then I called my daughter at
about 5 am and told her to tell me the truth so that
I could help her. That was when she told me that
she was the one, I was about to collapse but as a
man I controlled myself and asked her who was
responsible for the pregnancy. She said it was the
husband though they are not married.
When I asked her why she behaved that way, she
said when she told her husband about the
pregnancy, he told her to go and abort it. She said
she wanted to tell me but didn’t know what
confused her. I was annoyed and took her hand to
the chief security officer in my street to arrest her
and let her suffer for what she has done so that
others will learn from her.
Then I took my bag and left for the village because
I was having an appointment that morning with
some people that are going to work in my farm.
“The same day, they called the police and handed
her over to them.
She was detained at Textile Mill Police Station with
her mother. When I heard about it, I didn’t care
because what she did, I was not happy with it. Since
then she has been in custody. It was later I heard
that she was remanded in Oko prisons after the
Evboriaria Magistrate Court said it was not in the
position to handle the case as it is within the
jurisdiction of the High Court. So they sent the file
to the DPP.
I said I wouldn’t be part of the case but it was later
that people were begging me to realize that my
daughter is not a wayward child; that something
must have happened. Maybe the way the husband
threatened her must have made her do it and she
knows I don’t tolerate nonsense because I told her
to be very careful as marriage is for better for
worse.
Then I called the husband and asked if he was
responsible for the baby, and he said no. I called
the two sisters of the man and told them to ask
their brother if he is the one. They started saying
that their brother was not the father of the child,
that he was ready to go anywhere for a test, that
even the first child, he was not sure if he is the
father, that he had to do a test before he could
accept him.
In fact the boy said we should go to Ayelala (native
doctor) to find out that he was not the father of
the child. Now I have so much pity for my daughter
who already has a two-year-old son with us. I want
her released. I had to act the way I did because
what she did was bad. But I have realized that my
daughter has learnt from her mistakes.
We are going to take care of the child. People should
realize that I am not a bad person; if I am, I would
not have informed the police to arrest her. The
child is at the orphanage home now. We will accept
the baby if my daughter is released. I am begging
the authorities”. Asked if she was not aware that
her daughter was pregnant, Mrs Ebohon said, “ I
was not aware of the pregnancy and I don’t know
how she kept the pregnancy that I was not aware.
The first one, I was the one that detected it but
this one she hid it from me. She told me that the
husband is the cause of everything because she
wanted to go to school when she got admission into
the college of education. Because we didn’t have
money, she couldn’t go to school, that is how the boy
hooked her. After the father informed the police,
they came to arrest us and took statement from me
and her; fromTextile Mill Police Station, she was
taken to Esigie Police Station.
She was there for some weeks and I have been going
to see her and people were saying it was not her
fault; she even said it was the husband who
frustrated her that she had to hid it from us.
Though we were annoyed of what she did, people
were begging us to pardon her that it is not her
fault since she she was not able to take care of the
first one. In fact she had that baby on June 13 but
the child was discovered on June 16.
When we even went to the Ministry of Women
Affairs to see the child, they said they will not allow
us to see her.
My daughter is in prison now crying and begging God
to forgive her, and release her to unite with her
baby. She insists on going back to school if the
opportunity comes”.
It was a pitiable sight when Sunday Vanguard, in the
company of her parents, visited Joy at Oko prisons; she
wept uncontrollably when she saw her son. Asked why she
decided to throw away the child, she narrated:
“I was frustrated because my husband threatened
that if I didn’t remove the pregnancy, he will not
accept it. And I was afraid of telling my parents
because my father will not take it lightly with me.
What happened was that I went to the toilet to
have my bath. As I was bathing, I entered into
labour, the child came out smoothly. I was confused
on what to do. I got a nylon bag around, quickly
poured water on my body to clean up the blood. I
rushed out of the bedroom, walked down the street
and quietly dropped the child on the ground and
came back home”.
Asked how she felt when people were placing curses on her,
she said:
“I was feeling very bitter inside me. I wept without
people knowing why I was crying. It was because of
my condition that my mother started suspecting
me.
I was scared on what to do because my father will
not be happy with me that my husband rejected the
baby, while my husband warned me he will not
accept the child if I kept it.
And I didn’t really want to abort the baby. I have
prayed God to forgive me, people should forgive
and allow me go and take care of my baby.
Poverty caused this problem for me, if not I would
not have met this man. But God will judge him for
rejecting this child that is his blood”.
Vanguard
