The Panacea

My older sister almost got raped twice
Once by a man in his forties while we
were teenagers
The man taught me and my younger
brother how to play chess
He was a journalist too
Quiet and very religious
My sister was fourteen at the time and
I was twelve
My sister wanted to learn
how to play chess
She didn’t like the fact that I and my
younger brother had a game we were
playing that she didn’t know how to play
She went to knock on the door of this
man’s flat
The House was a four flat building
We were living upstairs and the man
was a bachelor living downstairs
She asked if he could teach her
how to play chess
He invited her in and almost raped her
She escaped by sheer luck
My mother was livid when she heard
The man denied it
Of course, nobody believed my sister
The man was too respectable in the
community to be accused of such
Everybody said he should get a wife
I and my sister decided to punish
him in our own way
I smashed his windows and my
sister started calling him “Mr Otolo”
The nickname spread like wildfire
His real name was Anthony
We shouted “Otolo” whenever he was
within earshot and mocked him
The man eventually reported us for
harassing and embarrassing him
My father had a meeting with us and
told us he will handle the matter
My father spoke with this man in German
language (so that we cannot hear their
conversation)
The man had lived abroad for several
years just like my parents and they all
speak several languages
The beast in some people would defy
their education, class, age and culture
Evil is basic instinct
My mother understood the German
language and later explained to us that
my father said he would arrest the man
and lock him up if he ever heard that
he did anything close to that ever again
in that community
My Father then had a meeting with us
and told us to be vigilant but not to call
the man “Mr. Otolo” again
We lived in that house for another
six years
The man behaved himself throughout
He kept his distance from both male
and female children in the community
until we left
I met him a few years ago when I went
to Ibadan
He was married with children
He had also become a believer and he
apologized to me (My sister had gotten
married relocated abroad by that time)
He said it was after he met Christ that
he realized that what he did was wrong
Meaning all that time when he never
did it again, he was only kept at bay by
my father’s threat
The second time, it was by a boy very
close to our age
Jide, that’s his name
Their flat was next door to ours
We were all age mates and quite close
He sneaked into our house one night
and went straight to my sister’s room
I was asleep in the sitting room
Of course, he was caught
It was a three-bedroom flat and we were
all at home
Only God knows what he had been
watching or hearing that gave him the
confidence to pull that stunt
Perhaps the myth that if you touch a lady
at one weak spot she will just open her
legs like a dolly
A lot of rubbish flew around when we
were teenagers
Sex was such a mystery that those who
have had it felt they were cooler than
those who hadn’t
Till today, i never saw the big deal in it
My sister woke up while he was still
trying to find that weak spot and slapped
him hard
My parents woke up and well
It became an issue that all the parents
sat down and began to talk about while
he was on his knees crying
I was blamed for not locking the door
while I was asleep
As if we all didnt grow up together in
peace before that day of evil came
Jide is married now and lives in the
USA
He has since grown to become a very
respectable man
Rape and sexual assault are despicable
behaviour
It takes the scums of the earth to derive
pleasure in such a horrid act
When i was in my twenties
I met a young lady (A teenager) who
would go to school and lure her friends
home so that her older brothers can
rape them
Her older brothers gave her money and
other incentives to encourage her
She told me the story herself when
she suddenly started experiencing
strange visitations at night in her
sleep
Her parents had taken her everywhere
but she couldn’t sleep an hour without
screaming awake from her sleep
Sedatives and other drugs didn’t work
for her
I was an undergraduate at the time
We went to minister in her school and
the Holy Spirit took over
She confessed and gave her life
to Christ
She was also encouraged to report
to her teachers and parents
She named 19 girls from that school
and other schools that she had lured
home
This she said was apart from the ladies
hawking all sorts of goods who became
a victim of her brothers after she had
called them into their compound while
pretending she wanted to buy whatever
they were selling
She had five brothers and her parents
were semi-literate non-Christians
The father was selling iron rods at Iwo-road
while the mother was selling clothes at
Gbagi market
The father had a second wife, a teacher
None of the adults had a clue what the
children were doing when they were
not at home
Laws and morality and religion cannot
tame the beast in people
Throwing rapists in jail does not cure
their victims
The only cure for both the perpetrators
and their victims is the gospel
Many of us who now walk in the light
of the gospel know how much damage
we would have done to this world of
men if not because we met the Lord
Jesus
We cannot change society without
the gospel
Jesus is the way
If you’re reading this, and you’re
struggling with ungodly desires
I can guarantee a brand new life
in Jesus Christ
One that will be activated in minutes
and your life will be set on a glorious
course by the Holy Spirit
You can send me a mail
[email protected]
or a message on +2348072744871
Whatsapp or to our webistes
gswmi.com and gbengawemimo.com
God bless you