Eileen Nweke-Emeruwa, mother of two, in reaction to a story published in Vanguard newspaper on June 10, 2024, narrates how her husband, Emmanuel Emeruwa, allegedly serially defiled their 5-year-old daughter, and on lodging a report, Emmanuel was arrested by the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team of the Ministry of Justice, Alausa, Ikeja. Eileen also raised the alarm that some unknown people have been threatening her life and those of her sympathisers. Excerpts:
•Why I’m speaking out
I am Eileen Nweke-Emeruwa, the traumatised wife of Emmanuel Emeruwa. A mother of two children – 5 years and 4 months old, a girl and a boy – respectively, my marriage to Emeruwa was characterised by brutality on me and sexual abuse on my daughter. It is pertinent to note that this interview is being granted following the scathing comments made by the counsel to Emeruwa in his report to the Vanguard newspaper of June 10, 2024. The lawyer made several false remarks in the case, goading me to find it necessary to set the records straight for the world to hear my side of the story. I have no money to hire a flippant counsel, but thank God for the organisations, who got me professionally and ethically-driven lawyers, who have been conscientiously following the case at every bend lest the flesh and meat of the matter is eroded by deliberate distortions by a paid agent.
•Why my husband was arrested
Emmanuel Emeruwa was arrested on the strength of my remonstration and petition to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence agency of the Ministry of Justice, Alausa through the Commissioner of Justice and other agencies against sexual and domestic violence in Nigeria and abroad.
•What necessitated my exit from matrimonial home
Brutality on me and sexual assault / abuse on my 5-year-old daughter. Emeruwa, in the past one year to the best of my knowledge, has been sexually abusing my daughter. He did this with stark impunity, and his family members have been reported to so many times, but they ended up each time sweeping the matter under the carpet. I packed out of our home on April 23, 2024, in the night arising from the crisis that started on the 21st of that same month. A week before, at bedtime, I had dressed up my daughter for bed, and she went on her bed to sleep. I suddenly woke up to check on my daughter at the wee hours and couldn’t find her on her bed but saw her night wears on the bed. Armed with Emeruwa’s history of molesting this little girl, I went into his room and met my daughter lying flat down famished while the father pretended to be sleeping. My discovery was nauseating and embarrassing. At this point, I was mute and couldn’t talk for fear of beating up that wee hour of the night. Knowing well that I had caught him in the past dipping his fingers in her private part and when I confronted him he said he will stop, but knowing how furious I was he turned it and brutalized me that day. I decided to start planning my way out to save myself and my daughter from the constant beating and molestation. In the night of 21st April 2024, Emmanuel ended up beating me blue black, because a foster child living with us refused to let him have his way with her and I confronted him .He charged at me and started beating and twisting my neck in an attempt to strangulate me. He doubled his hostility on me that day with no rescue in sight. That crisis caused him to lock himself, the kids and myself in the house till 23rd of April, sensing that I had calmed down. That was when I decided to pack out of the house, exiting an abusive bondage called marriage. At a point of beating me over the confrontation, I was almost giving up until I summoned the courage to resist his brutality by pushing him back. He once did the same thing sometimes before the April 21st confrontation that made me call both our families and reported to them but for his crocodile tears both families couldn’t take any decisive step towards forestalling a repeat of that ugly scenario.
•What happened thereafter April 21, 2024
On April 23, 2024, after releasing us from incarceration that lasted until that day from April 21, 2024, he dressed up and left the house. At that time, I had already packed my luggage. Meanwhile, the latest development was one in a series of such incidents. I insisted I was moving out of the house due to morbid threats to my life and that I would rather die than live with a brute and paedophile. He doubled his violent hostilities and called the security men in our estate never to allow me out of the premises as he drove out. Yes, he returned with two armed soldiers, who were later discovered to be from Bonny Military Cantonment, one of whom was (names withheld). He brought them to harass and probably kill me. The driver of the van conveying my load from the house was severely molested by the armed soldiers. It took over a week for my 5-year-old daughter to come out of the convulsion she developed at the sight of two heavily armed soldiers.
•What the soldier later did and my resort to seek police help
On hearing both of us judge our different sides of the narratives and intervention of neighbours, the soldiers were disappointed, they realised my husband had lied to them ab initio that I brought thugs to the house. According to the soldiers, Emeruwa cried to them that his wife brought killers to kill him in their home. On realising his inconsistencies, the soldiers were angry and eventually left the premises. At the sight of the armed soldiers, I had called my friends and family members, who cried out to their acquaintances and eventually a senior military officer on hearing that soldiers were involved called Emeruwa to hand over the phone to the soldiers. There was no insult Emeruwa didn’t give to the senior personnel. He cursed him and eventually bullied him out of the phone call that night. After that, a sympathiser made a distress call to the CP alerting him of what Emeruwa was about doing to me as he feared I could be killed in the then-ongoing melee being a breast-feeding mother of a 3-month-old at that time.
Thereafter, I wrote petitions to the police and the Ministry of Justice in Lagos State, who swiftly took over the case. The day he was arrested, the operatives of the Nigerian Police force and the officials of the Ministry of Justice in Lagos State and I met Emeruwa in our bedroom with one married woman, who also works with the National Lottery regulatory Commission in their Lagos office. They were both improperly dressed (naked), a development that confirms how randy and raunchy he could be.
•Steps taken by the police
The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence agency caused the police to run a series of scientific examinations on my daughter, and it was confirmed that she was defiled. Therefore, it is established that my daughter had a series of penetrations under the roof of both her parents.
•What the police are doing with the case now
The police initially came up smoking until those assigned to handle the matter began to twist it for the reason of intimidating influence on them by the friends and family members of Emeruwa, who were privy to all the criminalities committed by their kinsman in my reports to the families. They heavily weighed in their influence on the Investigating Police Officer one (names withheld) and the O/C, who obviously demonstrated bias. In fact, at a point, they hate seeing me. The IPO once asked me if I was not tired of the case, ostensibly, the reason for the series of come-today-come-tomorrow tactics adopted by her in the case. I told her that I was relentless in the pursuit of justice for my daughter. I birthed a daughter for Emeruwa and not a wife. Another day, the same compromised IPO asked me if I am aware that a case could be turned against the complainant? I answered her that her statement would have a limited impact on the decision of the would-be-judge in the matter. The most heartbreaking moment was the day I was invited to the station by the police officer (names withheld) after so many frustrating invitations and on getting there, I met the O/C, her and Emeruwa, who was supposedly in police custody and other of his family members eating on same table right in the premises. At that point, I got to know that they’ve all compromised!
•Statement my daughter made to the police
My 5-year-old pointed at her father on several occasions during the investigations by the police and officials of the Lagos State Government and even during interrogations by laboratory experts. My daughter mentioned her father as her violator. The lawyer, who spoke to the press is ill- informed and motivated by money to speak recklessly in this case. The case is already before the court, and as a lawyer, he ought to have demonstrated professional discipline, caution and talk less, but he chose to throw common sense overboard in his rants. It is my daughter and I, who are victims in the case. He has no estate anywhere, let alone the one I will fixate my mind on. The lawyer is only delivering service that he was paid for by his client. So, I won’t engage him in his inglorious comments about my person and the case because I am sure justice will be impeccably delivered in this case. I have implicit confidence in the courts. Thank God the lawyer won’t be the judge. It is noteworthy, however, that the custody of my children is not and will never be in dispute as against the vain sentiments of Emeruwa’s lawyer. We are talking about child abuse and sexual molestation but not the custody of my children.
•Our lives in danger
So far, I commend the Lagos State government for their swift response. Nigerian mothers should always be vigilant in the care of their children. Even though I was very sensitive and caring for my daughter, Emeruwa beat me to it. More care should be given to children with close monitoring. I seek support from the government and public-spirited individuals all over the world to come to my aid. My life is under huge threat from Emeruwa’s people and their sympathisers, including the investigating police officer. Since the beginning of this case, my domestic economy has nosedived, making it increasingly difficult to feed myself and children. As long as I live, I must get to the root of this matter if my anonymous callers, who issue threats do not kill before my time. My friend, whose house I ran to during my escape from Emeruwa’s attacks on me, is currently under severe threats from his agents. She is under severe harassment from unknown persons, who are undoubtedly connected to the culprit. The world should take note that, should my friend be harmed, Emeruwa and his cohorts should be held culpable. I seek nothing but justice and the support of well-meaning Nigerians. I won’t pander to the sentiments of any paid agent, who is commissioned to derail this case. So far, the gender agency under the Lagos State government has done marvelously well and I sincerely commend their efforts.