Mirabel Centre: Victims’ Experience

CLIENT 019-18 years.

She came in from Warri to stay with her aunt in Lagos. Unknown to her that her aunt had moved from the previous location that she knew and has no where to stay. She went to a particular hotel somewhere in Ogudu area where someone living around the hotel told her that the owner is from her place and she went to meet him to explain her situation and the man gave her a room to sleep. According to her, she couldn’t sleep because the room was dark. Unfortunately for her, the man had collected money from someone to have sex with her.

At night while sleeping, two men came in and took her to the dark room where she was raped by one of the men. While screaming, the man left her and she ran outside. Neighbours within the vicinity informed her that there is nothing she can do to the man because that was his own means of livelihood.

In May 2013, our Client discovered that she did not see her menstrual period. She told her boss who she works with but was ignored. In June, she went for pregnancy test and the result was positive then she decided to come to the hospital to abort the pregnancy, and was referred to the Mirabel Centre. After much counseling and medical attention, our client decided to keep the baby. February this year, our client gave birth to a baby boy and she was given an accommodation for about three months at an undisclosed shelter.

CLIENT 109: She stays with her father who constantly collects money from her uncle to rape her. As a result of the frequent act of rape and sexual assault, our client said she had four abortions for her father and she eventually lost her womb during the last abortion. After much counseling, she decided to go back to school by registering for WAEC. She was fully supported with funds from the centre to purchase the form.
CLIENT 122:- 15 years male
He went to meet his mother to give him N20 to repair his slippers but she told him she didn’t have change. He left his mother and went to meet a neighbour who is a male to ask him for N20 but he insisted that the boy would have to do something for him.

He then asked him to take the “apian way” (narrow way) and wait for him somewhere, but he refused and told him that he would go through the gate. But when he got there, he realized that brother K was already by the gate. Brother K then asked him to go and get a bucket inside the public toilet and when he entered the toilet, brother K jumped into the
toilet and asked him to pull his pants, he refused telling him that his mom has told him not to do such thing. But he shouted on him that he was brother K. He pulled down his pants, rubbed something in his hand and put some in his own hands and asked him to rub his penis but he refused but he forcefully took his hands and was rubbing it in his penis, he was also rubbing clients penis, he kept rubbing it against his penis and when something like milk came out, brother K then said that he has done what he wanted and he is fine. Client says there was no oral penetration.

CLIENT 176: 3YEARS OLD.
HE asked me to come to his house and said I should lie down on the floor. He put spit on his penis and put it in my buttock, then he cleaned the blood that came out from me. I started shouting that they should call my mother, instead he gave me money to keep quiet. I use the money to buy (Epa) groundnut. He said I should not tell anybody of what has happened and but I insisted that I will tell her mum and he gave her more money.