“I was r@ped for four years by someone my parents trusted” — Lady recounts childhood abuse

A Nigerian woman has recounted the harrowing experience of being sexually abused for four years as a child by a man whom her parents trusted and brought into their home.

The woman revealed that the abuse began in 2009 when she was just five years old. According to her, the man had started playing the keyboard at her parents’ church before they eventually took him into their home.

She said the man first assaulted her after calling her into his room when no adult was around and warned her not to tell anyone.

“I was raped for four years consistently by someone who my parents trusted and brought into our home. It does things like masturbating in front of me. Apart from knife or any other instruments, I don't think there was nothing that did not enter inside of me.

“The home is meant to be a safe space, but for my guest, it became the genesis for the trauma that shaped her childhood and still follows her to this day.”

She said she later told her older brother about the incident, but both of them were children at the time and he was only seven years old.

According to her, the perpetrator later threatened her with a knife and warned that he would kill her if she told anyone about the abuse.

She said the abuse subsequently became a regular occurrence whenever the man was in the house, particularly when her parents were away at work or church.

The survivor also recalled an incident when the abuse occurred while other members of her family, including her parents, were in the living room.

She said she had tried wearing jeans to bed in an attempt to protect herself, but the abuse continued.

“I actually wore jeans to sleep that night so that he would not do what he used to do. Because that's the only thing I could think of. Because I really didn't like whatever it is he was doing to me.

“But I saw that jeans did not solve my problem.”

She said the experience left her deeply confused and hurt, particularly because her parents and other family members were nearby at the time.

“I heard laughter in the living room, like my parents were literally watching TV. They were laughing, they were watching, I don't know whatever they were watching, but they were laughing and all of them were enjoying themselves in the living room.

“And I was just sitting down, thinking, ‘How will your daughter be in the room sleeping and this so-called person, a male…’”

The woman said the abuse continued for years and has had a lasting impact on her life.

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