Rape has become one of the most talked about vices in our society today
and yet some people still find it difficult to speak out when it happens.
Recently, Elvina Ibru, one of the daughters of Nigeria's foremost
industrialist late Olorogun Michael Ibru, openly said that she was raped in her
home by an armed robber.
This assertion kind of awakened my consciousness as to why people still hold back such even when it is not their fault.
I remember in my university days when a friend of mine was raped by her
supposed boyfriend to be. I used the word 'supposed' because in her mind, she
had agreed to date this guy in question but was just waiting for the right time
to tell him, unknown to her, the rapist had planned out how it was going to go
down. He invited her for a night reading and when they were done reading, on
their way back to her hostel, he lured her to their love garden area and took
advantage of the fact that nobody was there because it was already late and
raped her. I don't want to go into details as to why she did not report, though
I pushed for it to be reported but because we were still fresh in school and if
the matter got escalated which will obviously involve her parents, they would
probably roast her alive. As a result of this, she decided to let go of it.
Until this day, my friend is still finding it hard tell anyone
about this encounter. This got her withdrawn from people, depressed and at some
point suicidal. I thank God she overcame the challenge.
Now back to Elvina's, I appreciate her courage and boldness for speaking
out. The interesting part of her story is that by virtue of her being an Ibru,
People will see that this sort of thing could happen to anyone regardless of
their position in the society.
Rape case is not something to be shy about. I liken it to someone who
was robbed at gun point, once you see a gun, you are powerless. People can
comfortably talk about how they were robbed but can't be able to say how they
were raped even when the police are involved. We all blame this to the society
but we forget that a crime that is not reported is a crime that is likely to
happen again. We need an attitudinal change so that when rape occurs,
people behind it should be made to face the law of the land and that is the
only way we can defeat the menace of rape.
582 days ago
These rapists are on the lose and everywhere, God please protect your children.
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