How Lebanese raped, impregnated his Nigerian maid and sacked her

17-year-old Roda Timothy, was full of

expectations when she left her home state in

Plateau for Lagos, last year. She had hoped to

secure employment, earn a decent living and be

in a position to help her family back home.

However, her lofty dreams were shattered

barely few days after she was employed as a

maid. She was allegedly raped and impregnated

by her Lebanese boss who later kicked her out of

his house when all his efforts to abort the

pregnancy failed.

Her boss popularly called Hussein,Her boss popularly called Hussein, works as a

professional chef for highbrow companies in

Lagos and resides on Allen Avenue, Ikeja agreed

to pay Roda N10, 000 monthly. Two months after

impregnating her, Hussein sacked her after

paying her a paltry sum of N19,000 for the two

months she worked for him.

Roda who pleaded passionately that her

photograph should not be taken then narrated

how it all happened: “I started working with the

man as a maid immediately I came to Lagos. He

agreed to pay me N10,000 monthly as my salary.

When I packed into the house, my boss was not

around but he came back two days later from his

work place.

How I was raped

“On this particular day, my boss was about to

leave the house when his brother asked me to

go and meet him and collect some money to

purchase food items for the house. I knocked on

his door, he answered and asked me to come

inside. When I entered, I told him that his

brother asked me to collect money to purchase

food items. He said okay and got up from where

he was sitting, and pretended as if he wanted to

get the money before he grabbed me forcefully.

I struggled with him and was shouting but he

over powered me and raped me.

Second round of rape

“The following month when I discovered that I

had missed my monthly circle, I informed him

about it but instead of finding solution to it, he

raped me a second time. I then kept disturbing

him about the growing pregnancy. What he did

was to send me to a nearby chemist with a

prescription but the attendant refused to attend

to me without his presence. He later went with

me and bought some drugs which he asked me

to take to abort the pregnancy. I took the drugs

but nothing happened. After some days, he

bought another set of drugs which I took, yet,

nothing happened.

I then became very worried and was disturbing

him to find a solution to the problem he caused.

That was when he started threatening me and

later sacked me after paying me N19,000.

I was so afraid that when I went back to my

brother who brought me to Lagos, I didn't tell

him that I was pregnant for my boss. I was just

praying that the pregnancy will just disappear

but it did not. Unknown to my brother that I was

pregnant, he got me another job where I worked

for four months as a maid before my new

employer discovered that I was pregnant and

told my brother.”

Her brother speaks

“Roda's brother, Joshua also narrated his story to

Crime Guard. According to him, “It was January

this year that we discovered she was pregnant.

Her stomach was still flat and we had to take her

for scan. It was then she revealed that her

former boss,Hussein, was responsible for her

pregnancy. So, we went to Hussein’s house to

confront him but he denied being responsible

for the pregnancy. We therefore reported the

case to the Immigration Department in Ikeja and

on February 9, 2016, he was arrested but was

later released.

From Immigration to NAPTIP

“From immigration department, my sister was

taken to the National Agency For The Prohibition

of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP. Initially,

officials of NAPTIP said she would be with them

until she delivers but last week, officials of the

agency came and asked me to come and take my

sister back as she will soon deliver. The pressure

and threats from NAPTIP became too much to

the extent that I don’t know whether they are

protecting the interest of my sister who was

abused by a foreigner or that of the foreigner”.

Joshua lamented the atrocities perpetrated by

some expatriates resident in Nigeria, saying “

these atrocities continue unabated because the

government and relevant authorities ignore the

plight of helpless victims who are at their

mercy,”he stated.

When Crime Guard visited the residence of the

Lebanese, Mr Hussein in Ikeja, he was not

around but a lady in the house promised to

inform him about our visit and get back to us.

Promise by Hussein's nephew

The next morning, one Mr Hassan called claiming

to be the nephew of Mr Hussein Ali. He said his

sister informed him of our visit to his residence

the previous day. According to him, whatever

happened between his Hussein and Roda was a

mistake and that they were doing everything

within to resolve the issue while Hussein has

agreed to take care of Roda until she gives birth.

He however added that a DNA will be carried out

to determine the paternity of the baby but the

family will not refuse to take responsibility. “We

are doing everything to ensure she delivers

safely,” he added.

NAPTIP remains elusive

However, when Crime Guard visited Ikeja Zonal

office of the National Agency for the Prohibition

of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the Director

was said to have traveled out of Lagos on official

duty. A lady who claims to be the Public

Relations Officer of the Agency informed Crime

Guard that the Zonal director was the only

authorized officer who can speak with the press

on the issue. She then collected phone contacts

and promised to arrange a meeting with the

director once he gets back. But she didn't get

back till date. Further efforts made to contact

her proved abortive.