The Fredrick Olorunfemi case

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ACROSS history, countless numbers of men have died defending the honour and integrity of their wives or children. And if the details in the public domain are anything to go by, Fredrick Olorunfemi, the distraught father who died during a face-off with his seven-year-old daughter’s alleged molester in Lagos recently, must be added to the pantheon of great men who met their end fighting for family. Tragedy was forged in the crucible of a father’s love and the Olorunfemi family will never be the same again. Meanwhile, the felon who engineered the entire episode, one Jacob, is on the run, desperate to evade justice.

According to the deceased’s wife, Mrs Mabel Olorunfemi, the molested child had first reported to her how the suspect had been taking her to his house at Ajuwon in Ogun State to molest her. She then promptly related the story to her husband. Her words: “My daughter told me that her school’s bus driver had been taking her to his house in Ajuwon on the pretext that he needed to drop something at home and that she should follow him. Whenever they entered the house, the driver would ask my daughter to sit on his lap, to raise her school uniform, and to kiss him on the mouth. I told my husband what our daughter said and he immediately called the school to complain and said he was also reporting the allegation to the police. He was told to come to the school first, so we went there on Tuesday, February 7, and we met the proprietor, the driver, and some of the teachers. The proprietor, after listening to us, confronted the driver, saying that he had returned late with the school bus the previous week.

“He was later asked about the allegation levelled against him but he denied it. My daughter then narrated the same experience she told us at home. The driver couldn’t say anything other than to ask ‘Me? Me? Me?’ My visibly angry husband went to the driver and shouted at him, asking why he had molested his daughter. My husband angrily slapped the driver, and they started fighting, during which he pushed my husband on his chest. He fell, and efforts to revive him were abortive. We rushed him to a hospital where he was confirmed dead.”

The matter was subsequently reported at the Iju Police Station and the Lagos State police spokesman, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident, saying that the police were on Jacob’s trail and would not relent until he is caught. Meanwhile, the school’s management is assisting the police in hunting him down.

This case is so sad. Because of a pervert, an entire family has been thrown into turmoil, burdened with an experience that can never be forgotten. A little girl has lost her innocence and her dad; a woman has lost her husband after her innocent daughter’s terrible ordeal. The larger Olorunfemi family has lost a son. It is troubling that regardless of the outcry by concerned members of the Nigerian society, cases of violation of minors are on the increase. There are so many reports of minors being violated and sexually assaulted by unscrupulous individuals nowadays that it would be critical for parents to attach more importance to the care and security of their wards. Paedophiles are literally stalking the land and have to be prevented from pouncing on innocent and defenceless children. It is distressing that in the instant case, a driver whose only job was to take a child to school, a service that the parents had already paid for, turned the child into a plaything in order to satisfy his depraved lust. Unless the right kind of psychological and medical help is given to the victim, she may carry a life-long scar that will be difficult to erase, particularly as her mother was made a widow by her abuser. The tragedy is such a deep, mindboggling one.

While the suspect must be apprehended and made to face the full wrath of the law, parents, on their part, need to be extra careful about the school their children attend these days. In an incident that shocked many, a two-year-old girl had her head shaved and incisions made on it in an Ibadan, Oyo State school recently. Certainly, the onus is on the government to take more than a passing interest in schools, public or private. Schools should be made to live up to their responsibilities and where there are infractions, they must be swiftly punished in accordance with the laws of the land. We are saddened by the fact that Mr. Olorunfemi was killed during a scuffle with his daughter’s abuser. This is an unfortunate development that further calls attention to the depth of the acts of violation of minors in the country today.

We insist that the government and parents must put schools on their toes to put in place necessary structures to prevent assault on children by wayward adults, even as those caught in such acts should be made to face severe punishment as prescribed by law. In particular, the culprit in the Olorunfemi case should be fished out and be made to have his day in court for appropriate punishment. The police must bring Jacob to justice. We commiserate with the Olorunfemi family and fervently hope that they will have the fortitude to survive these trying times.

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