It is triple jeopardy for Aishat as her journey to Lagos State for greener pastures has become a nightmare.
Punch Metro gathered that the 16-year-old was gang-r*ped by four men at a
motor park in Ijesha, Surulere, where she was abandoned by her
guardian.
The r*pe was said to have resulted in pregnancy, as the Oyo State indigene roamed the park for shelter.
She was reported to have slept in different shops until the pregnancy
reached an advanced stage and she was referred to welfare workers.
Aishat was taken to the Mother and Child Care Centre, Gbaja, an arm of
the Randle General Hospital, Surulere, where she was delivered of a baby
through caesarean section.
Punch correspondent learnt that she was being prepared to be taken to a
government home when the result of her Covid-19 test returned positive.
She was subsequently transferred to the Gbagada Isolation Centre.
Punch Metro obtained a video of Aishat being interrogated by some
women, who expressed worry that since she was delivered of the baby, she
could not produce breast milk to feed her baby.
In the video, Aishat said, “I got pregnant through r*pe by four men. I
gave birth at Gbaja. I stayed in the Ijesha motor park. I was r*ped
there. I know the rapists. I gave birth through operation.”
The lady filming the video said, “Her breast is not bringing out milk.
No food (for the baby). We have been here trying to help this girl. The
baby was born through an operation; it’s a baby girl.”
Another woman at the isolation centre narrated how the victim was
brought to Lagos from Saki, Oyo State, by a woman who “picked her from
her parents when she was small.”
She stated, “The woman promised to hand her over to the person she would
be working with. When they got to Lagos, the woman left her at the
motor park and said she was coming.
“But the woman did not return. While she was roaming around, she slept
in a bus, where she was gang-r*ped by four men. After being gang-raped,
she had no place to go; she was still going round the motor park where
she always saw the people who gang-r*ped her.
“She was sleeping inside shops during the time she was pregnant before she was taken to the Gbaja hospital.”
Punch Metro gathered that there was confusion at the Maternal and Child Care Centre, Gbaja, where she was delivered of the baby.
It was learnt that no fewer than 30 health workers were exposed to Aishat during delivery.
Further findings revealed that after tests were conducted, the workers were all mandated to continue working.
A medical worker in the know alleged that the Medical Director of the
Randle General Hospital, Dr Aduke Odutayo, sneaked out Aishat after
getting her test result.
The source stated, “The girl was originally directed to the hospital
through the Ministry of Women Affairs, where her case was first
reported.
“The ministry then informed the permanent secretary of the Health
Service Commission. The permanent secretary later spoke to the Randle
General Hospital MD, who gave instructions to the Head of Department,
Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
“An emergency caesarean section was done on the girl without any
personal protective equipment. That has been the status quo in the
hospital since the beginning of the COVID-19; nobody has PPE.
“After delivery, she spent 10 days at the Maternal and Child Care Centre
on admission, where various doctors and nurses attended to her.”
The Coordinator, Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, Titilola
Vivour-Adeniyi, said Aishat’s video was recorded by another COVID-19
patient at the isolation centre.
She noted that efforts were on to reunite her with trusted family members.
“The police have already commenced investigation into the s.e.xual violence allegation,” she stated.
