I am from Effoi, in the Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. I am 17 years old, an orphan who stopped school in SS2.
The man’s name is Okon and the incident happened in 2019. I was 14 years old at the time. I met the man on Facebook and we started chatting. I was in a boarding school then-SS2 in Cornelia Connelly College, Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State.
After I told him about myself, he told me that he was my biological father and that he had my siblings with him. I have never met my biological dad; it was just my mum that I knew but she died when I was only five. That was the reason I was put in an orphanage.
Along the line, Okon told me to come and meet him but I said there was no way I could come out of the orphanage. But he insisted that I should come to meet him. So, I sneaked out and went to meet him.
When I came back to the orphanage, my mates reported me to the principal of my school and the principal invited the coordinator of the orphanage. The coordinator said he would come on Monday; the incident happened on a Friday. Later that day, I called Okon and told him what had happened as a result of my visit to him.
He then asked me to pack my things and that he would come pick me from the place. He promised to take care of me and sponsor my education. I did as he instructed me. I packed my bags and patiently waited for him to come pick me. He came with a car to pick me. That was how I started living with him.
He took me to Ibeno Local Government Area where he hails from. He was always telling me he was my father, but then he started sleeping with me. Sometimes he would send me out to sleep with other men and they would pay him. He made money off me. This continued until he impregnated me and we had to pin the pregnancy on another man.
The man insisted the pregnancy wasn’t his at first but Okon blackmailed him; he said he would tell everyone that the man raped me. Then the man eventually took responsibility for the pregnancy. I gave birth to the baby but I lost it later. However, we didn’t tell the man, so he continued to send money. The man was based in Abuja and anytime he came to Akwa Ibom to visit the child, Okon would give me his biological child to present to the man as his child.
I always told him that I was tired and that he should let me leave but he wouldn’t agree. He was always threatening me; so there was no way for me to escape.
He also threatened me that if I opened up to anyone, he would strangle me to death. After the child died, he told me it was the other man that killed the child. With annoyance, I tried reaching the man but he didn’t pick my calls, so I sent him a text and explained everything to him.
The man reply my text message and sympathised with me on the death of the baby. I think the man called Okon and told him what I said. But Okon told him that the baby didn’t die and told me to call him back and tell him that the baby was still alive. Out of fear I called the man again and told him the child didn’t die, as instructed by Okon.
Okon attempted to impregnate me again, with the plan to give the child to the man but I refused. He started maltreating me and forcing himself on me. He started beating me with wire and using a plastic chair to hit me. He locked me inside one room without food and water but I found a way to escape and reported to Child’s Right and Rehabilitation Centre. They stepped in and reported him to the police, leading to his arrest.
I am currently pregnant for Okon again, a doctor confirmed it and I am very sad because I live in an orphanage in Eket. I have learnt to be contented and not to trust anyone I don’t know
