By Uju Mbanusi

Residents of Isakaba Community at Ikota area of Lekki, Lagos, have expressed concern over an incident that happened in the early hours of Saturday, October 15, 2013, when a 26- year- old man identified as Nsikak Ikwere allegedly stabbed a 13-year- old girl for refusing his sexual advances and thereafter absconded.

It was gathered that the victim (name withheld)who lives with her uncle was sent to throw away dirts at a nearby refuse dump in the ever-busy community around 12am, before retiring for the night. On her way back, she was allegedly manhandled by a neighbour called Nsikak who ended up inflicting injuries on her body with a broken bottle after she refused his sexual advances.

When Crime Alert visited the residence of the victim, she was still recuperating from the injuries and shock of the incident as she was discharged from the Hospital on Monday, October 21st. Despite her visibly traumatized state, she managed to give an account of what happened to her. “When I went to throw away dirts, as I was coming back, I saw the man with bottle, I wanted to run, he held me on my clothes, around my neck, broke the bottle on my head and pulled me to a dark corner. He wanted to start touching my body but I refused and struggled with him, then he wanted to stab me on my stomach with the bottle, but I blocked it with my hands and he stabbed my hands, and stabbed me all over my body. I was shouting for help all the while. He then abandoned me and ran away.”

File photo: Police officers

An uncle to the victim, Mr Anthony narrated how his attention was drawn  to the incident by his niece’s scream, but on getting to the scene, the culprit had taken to his heels. He said “that early morning, around 12am, my niece went out to throw away dirts. All of a sudden, I heard a loud  sound of a bottle ‘gboa’ as if it was broken on something; after that I heard my niece’s shouts for help, so I rushed down there and saw her covered in blood.

There was blood on the walls, everywhere, not knowing what else to do, I carried her out of that  scene to a safe place, before asking what happened to her.   By this time, crowd had gathered. She said that Nsikak broke bottle on her head and stabbed her all over with it, because she refused his sexual advances. I didn’t meet the young man when I got to the scene, he ran away. But he is somebody that we know very well around here, even though he escaped, his parents are here.

The next day, I reported the case at Ajuwe Police station and I was told that the young man had a previous case at the station. The IPO asked me to make a statement, then he gave me a note to Akodo General Hospital, where my niece was admitted, she was only discharged on Monday the 21st of October. Since she was admitted, Nsika’s parents did not show up at the hospital to know how she fared. We were left to cater for over 50 percent of the medical bills, out of the N83,100 bill, they brought N15,000. We had to sell off almost all we had in my wife’s small shop to raise money for the bill.   Even at that, we are yet to clear the overall bill.

I would go to the Hospital every day to bath and brush her teeth because she can practically do nothing with her hands. “She was supposed to resume school the very day she was discharged but due to this problem, she can’t do that now because we spent all we saved to that effect on her medical bills. I am afraid she has to wait until next session when we would have saved up a little, also by then, she would have recovered fully.”

When Crime Alert met the 50-year-old mother of the suspect simply identified as Mrs. Ekwere, she wept as she narrated the ordeal their son had caused her family, praying the Police to do all they can to get him apprehended and face the law. “I don’t know what to say, that young man has caused me so much pain. Around 3am that early morning, we were asleep when I heard bangs at the gate, we also  heard people shouting Nsikak’s name; I said ‘not again’, then I asked his younger brother to go and know what the noise was all about.

I over heard them telling him what his brother did and felt very weak, Nsikak has caused me much problems. I don’t know what to say about this case, though he hadn’t stabbed some one before, Nsikak has been living rascally. The other time they brought a case against him, I gave them money to go and arrest him. He is no longer a boy, he is a man.

We have tried all possible means to help him be a man on his own but to no avail. From the time of that incident till now, we have not set our eyes on him. I tried calling his number but could not get through. I don’t know if he barred my number from calling him. He was not always like this, he started exhibiting some of these traits when he started making friends with some bad boys in this neighbourhood.

I don’t know his friends up till now. I told him I don’t want to see his friends around here, that was the initial issue we had with him. I have been ill since that incident happened, there was nothing within our ability that we haven’t done to make Nsikak live a more responsible life style but he rebuffed all that and chose to continuously bring us shame and reproach.