In late 2018, Felicia (surname withheld) made a life-changing journey from Abuja, where she had been living with her uncle, to Lagos to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays with one of her aunts.
During her stay, her aunt’s cousin, Mrs Ngozi (surname withheld), reportedly invited the Ebonyi State native to live with her in the Egbeda area of Lagos and promised to also enrol her in school, reports Saturday PUNCH.
On January 4, 2019, 15-year-old Felicia moved in with Ngozi, her husband Emeka, and their children.
Felicia accused the man of the house of giving her inappropriate attention, which escalated to inappropriate physical contact to an instance where he allegedly took her in his car to red-light districts to show her sex workers.
From that point on, Felicia alleged that Emeka repeatedly sexually violated her, with the abuse continuing from September 2021 until May 2022, when she finally fled the couple’s home.
She alleged that when she reported the abuse to Ngozi, the woman continued to support her husband and even forced her to make nude videos to send to Emeka.
In an interview with our correspondent, Ngozi denied all these allegations, which she described as lies made up by Felicia and some relatives to blackmail and tarnish their reputation.
Now 21 years old, Felicia lamented that her case has been stalled since 2022, when she first reported it to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and seeks justice.
Alleged grooming, sexual molestation
Recounting how the alleged abuse began, Felicia said in May 2021, Emeka instructed her to tell his wife and their senior domestic help that she would not be going to church with them that Sunday because she had stomach ache.
According to her, when everybody left for church, Emeka invited the 17-year-old to one of the rooms in the house and began to ask her a series of questions.
“He told me that he wanted me to feel free, and I said I was. But he insisted I wasn’t, and asked if I could bring my boyfriend to the house. I replied that I didn’t even have a boyfriend. He said he knew what girls did at my age, and then asked me to take off my clothes, but I refused.
“He started touching my breasts, and I started crying. He took me outside the room and said I was behaving like a child. He asked me what I would do for him in return because he’s been the one responsible for my school fees and those of my two brothers, and that I had the opportunity to bring my parents out of poverty. He said he could give me money or anything I wanted. I told him no, that I could not have sex for money.
“He said all he wanted was my body, and he would give me anything that I wanted. He added that with or without money, he would still have his way. Then he started pressing my breasts again, and I started crying. He called me out of the room again and threatened that he must not hear about what transpired from anyone, otherwise, he would kill me,” Felicia said tearfully.
She accused the man of grooming her, alleging that he told her not having sex at her age would have negative effects on her mental health and overall well-being.
Felicia also accused Emeka of exposing her to pornographic material before the first reported incident of sexual abuse, which was said to have occurred in September 2021.
According to her, after she was deflowered by Emeka, she endured repeated sexual assaults by him, occurring both morning and evening.
“Mr Emeka brought up the idea of one of his children sleeping in his room so that every morning when I go there to wake up their boy in their room at about 5am to dress him up for school, he would have sex with me, and it kept happening.
“He also brought up the idea of me following him to the market. Each time we went to the market, he would branch to a hotel and forcefully have sex with me, and before he did this, he always gave me pills,” the 21-year-old alleged.
‘Why I escaped’
Felicia said the first time she confided in Ngozi about the alleged abuse in December 2021, her aunt expressed surprise and asked her why she kept the assaults to herself.
Expressing her fear due to threats from Emeka, Felicia said her aunt told her that the only way her husband could admit to the abuse was if she caught him red-handed in the act.
“She told me to go to him and ask for sex on a particular Sunday and that if he agreed, I should call her on the phone before going to the room. I did exactly as instructed. It was when he had finished having sex with me that she showed up.
“When she came into the room, she started laughing, and I was asked to leave the room. She later came to the room where I was crying and said everything was fine and that I should continue doing what I was doing. That was when I realised she knew about it all along. After that, whenever he (Emeka) called me to come into his room, I would tell her (Ngozi), and she would tell me to go and meet him.
“On another day, she pleaded with me to sleep with her husband, and I refused with tears. She asked me if I can’t help her in her marriage, that if having sex is what I would help her do in the marriage, I should do it,” she alleged.
During her stay with the couple, Felicia claimed that they went to great lengths to prevent her from revealing the truth to her parents, who lived in distant Benue State.
“I didn’t have access to my parents,” Felicia said, her voice tinged with sadness.
“The last time I saw them was in 2016. Whenever I spoke to them, Ngozi and her husband were always present. So, every time my parents asked how I was doing, I would have no choice but to tell them I was fine, even though everything was falling apart.
“Each time I was having my period, he (Emeka) would have sex with me through the anus. Or he would ask me to suck his manhood until he releases in my mouth. The day I swallowed his sperm, I started having serious stomach pains, and I told Ngozi, but she told me to always smile and that if anyone should, for any reason, ask me what was wrong with me, she would deal with me,” she recounted.
Felicia also accused Ngozi of giving her waist beads, urging her to use them to make nude videos for her husband.
According to her, when the alleged abuse became unbearable, Felicia said she started to save up whatever money she could find around the house. Eventually, when she told Emeka that she was pregnant and wanted to have an abortion, he gave her N27,000.
“When I was able to find my way back to Benue State, my mum took me to the hospital for treatment,” she disclosed, her voice trembling slightly.
“The results showed that there had been forceful penetration, and that’s all I can remember from that time. Afterwards, my aunt called me, and when she heard about what had happened, she invited me to Abuja.”
Responding to the allegations made against her husband, Ngozi told our correspondent that she brought Felicia into her home with the intention of helping and giving her a better life.
“We took care of her, enrolled her in a private school, bought her textbooks, and even arranged for a home teacher. I treated her like my own daughter. I wanted her to be closer to Christ as well, so we had her baptised and confirmed in the Anglican Church. But to our surprise, we discovered that this girl was a liar and a pretender. She knows how to play the role assigned to her very well,” Ngozi claimed.
“At first, I started getting several complaints from her school teachers and even the principal. She accused her principal of sexually abusing her. The owner of the school had to call me and advised me to watch her carefully. One day, I got a call from her school that she was caught in one of their laboratories talking to someone on a video call.
“I was alarmed because everybody knows school regulations about phones; how did she take her phone to school? The funny part is that she deleted everything on that phone. The teachers found some nude photos on that phone, and one of the teachers called me to watch out for her,” Ngozi said.
She claimed to have taken the phone from Felicia when they arrived home, and later said she found out that the teenager allegedly sexually abused her one-year-old son.
“When I found out, I called the people who brought her here to report. Later, I discovered that she also steals, which was brought to my attention by one of the senior domestic helpers I had. In December 2021, her aunt visited us, and after hearing about what she had done, she flogged her in my presence.
“My husband didn’t like it because we don’t treat our kids like that, but there was little I could do, and I blame myself partly because I gave her too much comfort.
“She was well taken care of, and there are photos of her while she was in our house. How could someone being abused look like this? I didn’t treat her differently from my children. I took her to school myself and picked her up. We didn’t go out without her,” she added.
Ngozi blamed what she described as an internal family dispute for the accusations Felicia made against her and her husband, alleging that the families where she had previously lived had been abusive.
“That girl has lived in several states. She was maltreated, and we heard she was trafficked by different men when she was in Abuja. Before she came to our house, she was treated badly. She told me that her aunt used to give her only a sachet of noodles and had once poured hot water on her,” Ngozi said.
“They were teaching her to say all these bad things about me and my husband. Come to think of it, what kind of woman would allow her husband to sleep with another girl, let alone a girl of her age? She claims I recorded her nude videos. But wasn’t it she and her aunt who posted those videos on social media?”
She then showed our correspondent a TikTok video dated June 14, 2022, on her phone, which depicted Felicia wearing revealing clothes and a waist bead, dancing seductively.
Ngozi alleged that this was one of the videos found on Felicia’s phone after she left their home, adding that the girl was also involved in lesbianism.
“Her classmates said it, and that’s the truth; that girl is a lesbian. She hated her parents and even her aunt here in Lagos. Everything she said about us is a lie. I refused to release her phone, and we warned her that lesbianism carries a 14-year sentence, which was why she fled our house,” Ngozi added.
“She stole my jewellery, my children’s clothes, and money before escaping,” Ngozi alleged.
“It was only after she left that we discovered on her phone that she was doing giveaways on social media; they even called her ‘cash madam.’ She also had a boyfriend in Benin City, Edo State, because we initially thought that’s where she ran off to and even spoke with him.”
Ngozi showed our correspondent a photo on her phone, revealing Felicia with a young man, likely in his early 20s.
“We kept searching for her, put her photo on blogs, and reported the matter to the police. We also tried calling her mother, but her phone wasn’t connecting. It was only later that her mother called me to say that Felicia was back at their place and said some unpleasant things to me,” she added.
Efforts to reach Emeka for comment were unsuccessful, as his phone was switched off and messages sent via SMS and WhatsApp had not been replied to at the time of filing this report.
NAPTIP vows justice
It was gathered that after Felicia fled the couple’s house, she reported the alleged abuse to the NAPTIP Headquarters in Abuja, where her statement was taken. She further explained that her case was referred to the NAPTIP Lagos office because the incidents occurred within the state. Despite being invited twice to give a follow-up statement, Felicia lamented that there had been no progress or updates on her case to date.
It was also revealed that in June 2022, the couple were arrested by NAPTIP in connection with the allegations.
However, they were later released on bail, leaving the case hanging in limbo.
After the case went cold, Felicia and her family turned to a popular human rights radio programme known as Brekete Family, hoping to bring attention to the matter.
Ngozi, said after the case was broadcast on the show, her family was subjected to intense online trolling, threats and curses from angry members of the public.
“My phone numbers were posted online, and one of my husband’s stores had to be shut down after a mob showed up to destroy it. This is the reward for helping someone in need. We were even invited, along with Felicia, to the Police Force Headquarters in June 2022 to provide our statements,” Ngozi explained.
Felicia, on the other hand, accused one of Emeka’s in-laws of allegedly harassing and threatening her aunt, attempting to coerce the family into burying the case altogether.
Meanwhile, a source at NAPTIP’s Lagos office confided in our correspondent that as of March 2025, Felicia’s case file could not be found, but assured that it would be reopened for further investigation.
A letter addressed to NAPTIP, dated April 2, 2025, and signed by Felicia’s legal counsel, Martin Agba, a copy of which was forwarded to our correspondent, partly read, “Given the serious nature of the matter and the significant time that has passed, I kindly seek information regarding the current status of the investigation and any actions taken so far.
“I would appreciate any details regarding: the progress made in the investigation since it was reopened in March 2025, any legal proceedings or pending actions concerning the suspect, possible next steps and estimated timelines for further development.”
Commenting on the case, NAPTIP Press Officer, Mr Vincent Adekoye, assured that the agency was committed to ensuring justice and a fair hearing in the matter.
He emphasised that NAPTIP would continue to work diligently to resolve the case and ensure accountability for any wrongdoing.
