Sexually Molested By Her Pastor Dad- Elijah Soneye is not
only the father of 17-year-old Eunice Soneye, but also her feared
tormentor. The 53-year-old was on 21 October dragged before Mr. A
Adenariwo of Ota, Ogun State Magistrate’s Court on a two-count charge of
maltreating and inflicting grievous bodily injuries on Eunice as well
committing indecent molestation and abuse on her.
The court was alarmed to see a frail Eunice with grosteque swellings
and deep cuts all over her arms and body. The adolescent girl was helped
into the courtroom by her mother, Rebecca, 35, and older sister, Sarah.
The looks on their faces spoke of their trauma. Few minutes after, the
crowded court room was stricken with fear when Eunice drained of
strength and unable to stand the rigour of the proceedings, simply
fainted.
Elijah was alleged to have sexually assaulted Eunice on several
occasions, by fondling and sucking her breasts and asking her to massage
his genitals. The scruffy looking Elijah pleaded not guilty to the
charge and was asked by the magistrate to be remanded in police custody
while the case was adjourned till 17 November.
When this magazine visited Eunice in Ota, she lamented her ordeal in
the hands of her father. Though she initially claimed that her father
only molested but didn’t have sex with her, she later confessed that she
said so for fear of stigmatisation. She described Elijah, a purported
prophet and founder of a Cherubim and Seraphim church called New World
Covenant Embassy, as cruel and wicked.
She said her sexual enslavement in the hands of her father started
when she and her sister, Rebecca left their mother three years ago, to
live with their father, a former banker with defunct Savannah Bank. She
said the inability of their mother, who is estranged from the father, to
cater for them, compelled them to live with their father.
Unknown to them, it was a journey into seclusion, want and cruelty.
Eunice, who had just completed her Junior Secondary School, JSS
examination at the time, dropped out of school on the instruction of her
father. She claimed Elijah told her God asked him to stop her
schooling.
First to detect their father’s evil intention was Sarah, who suddenly
showed up at their mother’s place. Sarah’s reason for leaving was her
father’s alleged pestering for sex. She refused him. Soon after Rebecca
left, Elijah deflowered Eunice and ensured that she was kept in the
house as his ready sex doll.
“He started having sex with me in January and he did so repeatedly.
He threatened me that I would die if I told anyone and that he was the
only one God had directed to have sex with me,” she explained amid sobs.
Eunice told NEWS that when the situation became unbearable, she ran
away from his house to put up with a woman called Iya Osun, hiding in
the place for 15 days before her father found her out and forcefully
took her back home.
At home, Elijah tied Eunice up for two days without food, constantly
whipping her. On the pretext of going to ease herself, Eunice escaped
from her father’s hell-hole and trekked several miles, from Sango Ota to
Ifo.
Without any money or relative, Eunice sought refuge in a church after
narrating her ordeal to them. Few days after, the church asked her to
leave for fear of being accused of kidnapping her. She took refuge in
another church, but was also asked to leave after seven days. With the
help of a good Samaritan, Eunice returned to her mother, who she
narrated her predicament to.
Speaking with the magazine, Rebecca said she left Elijah because he
was cruel to her. “I dared not ask questions or hold any contrary
opinion to his, he would beat me up mercilessly. None of my family
members could visit me because he said he didnt want to see them and
once threw out my mother around 10 p.m,” she recalled.
Eunice’s sister, Sarah corroborated her mother’s remarks, adding that
their father was the devil’s incarnate. Rebecca cursed and wailed,
wishing that her violated daughter gets justice. Rebecca bore Sarah,
Eunice and a boy named Michael for Elijah.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.