How I Had Sex With My Three Daughters For 12 Years—Delta Man

The Delta State Police Command has arrested 54-year-old Edward Ngozi Odenga after investigators uncovered a long-term pattern of sexual abuse involving his three daughters, following a disclosure made by his 15-year-old child during a school sensitisation visit by the police.

Police officers explained that the arrest came after the teenager confided in a classmate shortly after the Divisional Police Officer of Ogborikoko Division, CSP Temi Zuokumor, completed an outreach session that educated students about sexual assault, molestation, and reporting channels available to victims.

A video released by the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Edafe Bright, showed Odenga admitting that he had been assaulting his children for several years.

In the same recording, the eldest daughter, now 24, stated that he started violating her when she was in primary six at the age of 12.

Recounting her experience, the 15-year-old explained that she broke her silence immediately after the police officer encouraged students to report any form of abuse.

She said, “I started crying after the police visited my school, so my classmate came to console me, and that was how I told her that my dad has been sexually molesting me. And she told me the day she came to my house, my daddy did the same thing to her, and that was why she stopped coming to the house.

“The officer told us that we shouldn’t be scared, that whatever we are going through, we should speak up, and if they do something, we should say something, so I confided in my classmate.”

Her elder sister confirmed the allegation. She said, “I am 24 years old; my father started defiling me when I was in primary six at the age of 12.”

She further described the cultural and emotional barriers that prevented her from speaking out.

“I couldn’t speak up then because it was an abomination to say such, and I was shy and ashamed. I thought it was just me; I had no idea he was sleeping with my younger ones. I found out about it from her schoolmate.”

During interrogation, Odenga admitted to the allegations and attributed his actions to evil influence. He said, “I have three daughters, and I have slept with all of them. My last daughter is 13, going on 14 years.

“I have been sleeping with my children for seven years. I don’t really know what prompted it; it is the devil’s work. I have sex with them in my house. I don’t force them or tie them up before having sex with them.

“I don’t know how I feel about it, but now I am heartbroken.”

SP Edafe described the incident as distressing and confirmed that the children are undergoing medical examinations at a hospital.

Police authorities added that Odenga remains in custody as investigations continue into the prolonged abuse.

This incident comes barely a month after Nigerians have urged First Lady Oluremi Tinubu and Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun to ensure justice in the case of Ochanya Ogbanje, a 13-year-old who died in 2018 from complications linked to prolonged sexual abuse.

Ochanya, a junior secondary school student at the Federal Government Girls College, Gboko, Benue State, died on 17 October 2018 from complications of vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF), a condition doctors linked to prolonged sexual abuse.

The abuse was allegedly perpetrated by her maternal relatives — a lecturer at the Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, Andrew Ogbuja, and his son, Victor.

Both were accused of serially raping the teenager over several years until she fell ill and later died.

Victor, who was declared wanted by the police in 2018, has remained at large since he reportedly fled to evade arrest.

His father, Andrew Ogbuja, was later arraigned for rape and culpable homicide but was acquitted by the Benue State High Court in Makurdi on 22 April 2022.

On the same day, in a separate case, the Federal High Court in Makurdi convicted and sentenced his wife, Felicia Ochiga-Ogbuja, who was Ochanya’s guardian, to five months’ imprisonment without an option of a fine for negligence that exposed the child to sexual abuse.

The Federal High Court ruling was later upheld by the Court of Appeal in November 2022.

Delivering judgment via Zoom, Judge Hassan Muslim, who led a three-member panel, described Mrs Ochiga-Ogbuja’s conduct as “heinous and devoid of sympathy”, noting that she “omitted to act” despite being alerted to the abuse by her own daughter, Winifred Ogbuja.

Mr Muslim ruled that such omission amounted to a “crime of negligence” under Section 344 of the Criminal Code Act, stressing that Mrs Ochiga-Ogbuja had a legal duty to protect Ochanya but failed to do so.

He added that her conduct “deserved more time of imprisonment to deter others of like minds.”