A lawyer attached to the National Human Rights Commission in Taraba State has been accused of urging the family of a 13-year-old girl to accept monetary compensation and abandon a case against a Nigerian Army captain alleged to have raped and impregnated her.
Sources close to the family of the girl, identified as Liyatu, said Barrister Ikrimah Isa of the NHRC Taraba office has repeatedly pressed them to take compensation and withdraw the matter involving Captain Etim Essien. The girl is deaf and does not speak. She was living with the captain’s family in Taraba when the alleged abuse occurred.
Isa denied the claims. “All the allegations are not true,” he said. He added that Blessing Essien, the captain’s wife, “is still under the custody of the court” and that the case involves multiple agencies.
That account conflicts with what the family says. Relatives alleged that Blessing was arrested, remanded at a correctional facility in Jalingo, and released after two days following Isa’s intervention. They said they only later learned she was no longer in custody.
After her release, according to the family, Blessing approached them and asked them to accept N500,000 and drop the charges. A video obtained in the matter shows Blessing with Liyatu’s baby and members of the girl’s family. Sources said the video captured her effort to persuade the family to take money and end the case.
The family refused. A source said Blessing and her husband had earlier offered N20 million, which was also rejected. “She and her husband offered us N20 million and we refused to accept,” the source said. Relatives said they want the allegations investigated and prosecuted, not settled with cash.
The same source alleged that Isa may have been paid to push a settlement. “It is possible they have offered him money and he has accepted it,” the source said. “The human rights lawyer has been telling Liyatu and her family to agree and accept compensation and withdraw the case. Very shocking.”
The underlying allegations first emerged publicly earlier this month. Sources said Captain Essien sexually abused the girl and fathered a child with her while she was in the care of his wife, Blessing, described as the girl’s older step-sister. Blessing had taken the girl in with the stated aim of sending her to school.
Sources further alleged that Blessing helped arrange access for her husband and later tried to hide the pregnancy while presenting herself as pregnant. A recording obtained in the matter shows Blessing admitting her husband had sexual relations with her step-sister, asking for forgiveness, and saying the matter should be handled as a family issue.
Captain Essien’s lawyer, G.T. Ieave, disputed public accounts of the case. He said reports circulating on social media did not accurately reflect what happened and that the matter was before a court while police investigated.
The Taraba State Ministry of Women Affairs and Child Development has written to the Chief of Army Staff. In a letter dated September 8 and signed by Commissioner Mary Sinjen, the ministry notified the Army of “a serious case involving an allegation of sexual abuse and exploitation of a minor” and identified Captain Essien as the alleged perpetrator. Sinjen said the Army had acknowledged the letter.
At the time of the initial public reports, Sinjen said Blessing was in prison with the baby she was breastfeeding and that the 13-year-old was with her parents. Efforts to confirm with the Nigerian Correctional Service in Taraba whether Blessing had been released had not yielded a response by the time of this report.
The Army has said it is looking into the allegations. The family says it will not accept money in place of a full investigation and prosecution.
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