Daniel Chijioke, a man living with HIV in Ukwu-Orji, Imo State, has been accused of consistently molesting and raping the 13-year-old daughter of Godstime Ubani, his wife-to-be.

Ubani, the victim’s mother, told EQ her daughter opened up to her on Saturday that Chijioke, a man with a high viral load, molested her throughout July.

She said that although she had her suspicions that a lot was amiss, she could not put a finger on it until Chijioke told her over a phone call on Saturday to test her daughter for HIV.

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Immediately after Ubani ended the call, she began to ask her daughter if Chijioke had touched her inappropriately or in a way she didn’t like, but her daughter would not speak despite her persistence until she threatened to hit her.

“My daughter told me that one night she woke up to find him lying on her. Another time, he slept on her back. She also said that he tried to force himself on her, gagging her to keep her from screaming,” Ubani told EQ.

“She said Chijioke would lure her to his room under various pretexts, such as asking her to fetch something, but on her way there, he would push her to the bed and have his way forcefully. My daughter said he would leave his sponge in his room and call her from the bathroom to bring his sponge. But she didn’t tell me all this while.”

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Ubani told EQ that her daughter did not open up to her because the day after Chijioke gagged her, he gave her a black powdery substance, which she took along with water on his orders. According to Ubani, her daughter said Chijioke told her she would die the day she told anyone of his malevolent encounters with her.

The victim’s mother said that when she asked Chijioke why he raped her daughter despite putting up with his health status, he hinted that he did it to spite her for exposing his status, which she claimed she didn’t.

“He used to say in Igbo that ‘if someone bites him on the head without minding his hair, when he retaliates by biting the person’s buttocks, he would not mind if it is tainted with a discharge of faeces’. He repeated the same thing on Saturday,” Ubani said, almost in tears.

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Ubani told EQ that the event Chijioke held on to as his reason for raping her daughter started after he began to get well. She said he was always sick and did not respond to normal medication when she met him until he tested positive for HIV.

After she found out that he was HIV positive, she decided to stay with him to help him get well. She said she kept spending her money on his treatment at a general hospital until he began to recover.

“But as soon as he got well, he began to pick fights with me every time. I informed a security official, who then asked him to leave my house. I didn’t disclose his status to the official, but not long after he left, my rent expired, and I had no choice but to join him in his new residence. This was after I concluded that my kids could not survive living with their father’s relative,” she said.

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“To survive, I began to farm and cook for people. I mostly cook at night and return to the farm during the day. It was during this period that Chijioke started molesting my daughter. She told me on his first attempt, he requested a fellatio.

“My daughter tested negative at a specialist hospital on Monday, but we’ve been asked to come back later for another test. She’s now subjected to some medications.”

When EQ called Chijioke to comment, he denied the accusation.

“Who talk that kind thing?” he asked. “I no do am.”
The post Stepfather With HIV ‘Raped 13-Year-Old Throughout July’ in Imo. Her Status Is Now Uncertain appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.