Habeebulah Abdulrahman, an Islamic cleric in Osun State (commonly known as Al-Edewy), was accused of violating his Islamic school’s 16-year-old female pupil.
Mr Abdulrahman reported in reply that the teenager was his spouse and he had the right to have sex with her.
Born in 2003, the victim lost her father at a young age but remains in Ede, a city in Osun State, with her mom. She lately finished her municipal junior secondary school.
Investigation disclosed that in January the cleric invited the girl for adequate Qur’anic teachings to enter his Islamic class not far from her house. The girl obliged with her mum’s approval.
But after a while, the Islamic scholar asked for her hand in marriage. The girl dismissed the proposal on several occasions, but Mr Abdulrahman continued until he raped her.
It was gathered that he gave several presents to the victim with the intention to lure her into marriage, but when questioned he claimed that he only supported her because she had no father.
On April 18, the scholar traveled with the girl and two other male students to Ilaro in Ogun State for an Islamic lecture.
While there was a separate room for the two male students, Mr Abdulrahman booked a single room for himself and the girl. He tried to have sex with the girl but she raised an alarm and got the hotel’s receptionist’s attention, she said.
The girl stated that that night he subsequently raped her.
Mr Abdulrahman visited his relatives in Abeokuta on their journey back to Osun State, where he supposedly raped the teenager again.
He forced himself on her in the absence of the two male pupils and the relatives of the scholar, according to the teenager at Abeokuta.
“Before I knew what was happening, the whole house was empty and he told me not to attempt running away because everywhere had been locked.
“The bed was stained after he had his way and he instructed me to go and wash his singlet that was also stained.”
She told us about the occurrences that preceded the rape; “Barely four days after I joined the Islamic school, he asked me to marry him but I said my studies will be affected and that he is too old for me even if I want to marry anyone at all.
“There was a day he came to my house and because no one was at home he entered my room while I was trying to undress. He told me we should make use of the opportunity but I refused.
“Even when he told me he would be coming to my house to ask for my hand in marriage, I refused immediately.”
Meanwhile, the girl stopped attending the Islamic class after the alleged rape, and the family was silent about it until some of the siblings outside Osun State received the information during a June visit to Ede.
The cleric began by checking on the performance of the girl in class, according to the victim’s mother, Mrs. Ibrahim, which made her feel he had the family’s interest at heart.
“When he learnt the girl has a boyfriend, he was furious and we all thought he was concerned for a good cause.
“When he started giving gifts, I also asked him and he said he was doing it to help a fatherless girl. Even when he said he wanted to marry the girl, the only grouse we had against him was that the girl objected to the marriage,” the old woman said.
She rained curses on Mr Abdulrahman while recounting her experiences, stating: “he felt he could step on our rights because he is influential and we are nobody, but my God will judge him and his family.”
In reaction to the allegation, Mr. Abdulrahman stated it was not a rape case because, a day before they started on the trip, he was married to the girl in the Islamic way.
“She is my wife and not an ordinary student. She misbehaved and I told the family that I was no more interested in her. The family want to coerce me to marry her. What she did, I don’t think anyone can accept that. She went to another man’s house for two days.”
“After 15 days, I saw those pictures. I went to the family and her mom and showed them that picture. It was then that I declared that I am no more interested in her. Since then, they have been peddling lies for me to marry her.”
When asked if there were documents or pictures to support his claims to marriage, he delivered none but claimed that the ceremony was attended by two of the siblings of the girl and his friend.
“We did the ‘Aqd Nikkah’ in her brother’s house in Ile-Ife with one of her brothers, Monsur. While I was on my way to Ife, I picked one of my friends, Abu Husaynah, and he witnessed it as well.”
Aqd Nikah relates to Islam’s marriage contract.
Mr Husaynah, who added, however, that he was not conscious of their mission until they reached Ile-Ife, supported this statement. He also said that the girl had not consented to the marriage on several occasions until the Ile-Ife case.
However, both siblings from the girl’s family denied such understanding and said the cleric’s application for marriage was a meeting to resolve problems.
The girl also debunked the marriage claims.
Abanikanda Kehinde, whose residence is at Ife was where the meeting took place, spoke to journalists; “I requested that the girl come to my house because of the pressure from Alfa. We talked about it and told Alfa to allow the girl to focus on her education. She is still young”
“How will I give out my sister’s hands in marriage in the absence of my mother? Even though our father is late, his relatives are still alive. And they are the only ones that can approve the marriage,” Mr Kehinde added.
Mr Monsur corroborated the position of Mr Kehinde. He (Monsur) said that he was only serving as Ife’s tour guide because he was the only one who knew the home town of his older brother.
They said they never heard of any marriage between the cleric and the girl when they interviewed some of the residents in the neighborhood.
Mr. Shuaib, a local civil servant, said he was angry when he heard about the matter and approached the scholar. But when the cleric claimed he was married to the girl, he was surprised.
He added that because everyone he called in his presence denied being part of the marriage process, the cleric could not substantiate his allegations.
The community leader in Ede’s Oke-Iresi revealed that the scholar had sent individuals to beg the victim’s relatives. He said that “the issue can’t be resolved if he refuses to accept the fact that he erred.”
The victim is a minor, making allegations (if valid) from the scholar a case of child marriage.
However, child marriage (one involving a person under the age of 18) is a breach of the law of Nigeria. Section 21 of the 2003 Child Rights Act states: “No person under the age of 18 is capable of contracting a valid marriage, and accordingly, a marriage so contracted is null and void.”
Osun is one of Nigeria’s two-dozen states that domesticated the Child Rights Act to apply in the state.
Aside from the illegal nature of such child marriage, reporter also learned that the girl’s family showed disapproval of the cleric’s proposal for marriage on two occasions.
We confirmed that on both occasions in Sekona, the girl’s father’s home town ; the family rebuked the scholar after the girl made it known that she was not interested in marrying him.
It was also disclosed that, while they were on their journey back to Ede from Abeokuta, the clergyman gave the girl fifty thousand naira as some sort of dowry.
On the basis that it was not consensual, an Islamic scholar, Opeyemi Kewuyemi, failed the marriage process when contacted (if it was true at all). He said that dowry is an significant component of the process even before sexual intercourse takes place.
“The money is not paid to the girl but the parents of the girl. Even the Holy Qu’ran forbids that you have sex with a woman before paying the Sad’aki (dowry),” he clarified.
Mr Kewuyemi added that the absence of a marriage certificate also makes marriage void in Islam because it is the law’s only formal document.
According to Section 358 and 359 of the Criminal Code Act- part five, anyone who commits the offence of rape is liable to life imprisonment; while attempt to commit the offence is felonious and such offender is liable to 14-year imprisonment.
Also, Section 31 of the Child Rights Act 2003 stipulates that a person who commits an offence of ‘defilement’ is liable on conviction to life imprisonment.
Although yet to be domesticated in 11 other states, the Osun State Government passed the Child Rights Act into law in 2017.
Speaking with this paper, a legal practitioner, Yemi Abiona, noted that the accused can be convicted under the provision of the Child Rights Act of 2003 because any marriage to an underage is invalid.
He restated that the age of consent is 18 years and that the cleric, who did not deny sleeping with the 16-year old, is liable to life imprisonment upon conviction.
“Sharia law does not operate in the South-west, not too talk of being applicable to Osun State. The culprit must be made to face the wrath of the law.”
Meanwhile, the family of the victim, in a petition submitted to the police through a legal firm based in Ibadan, on June 13, demanded that an investigation be conducted to bring the accused to book.
The petition was titled “Petition against one Habeebulah Titilope Abdulr-rahman (A.K.A Aledewy) over a series of acts of rape, indecent assaults, inducement of an underage girl, molestation and threat to life of Miss…..
“Unless this man is urgently investigated and prosecuted accordingly, other innocent girls will suffer the same fate as our client,” Crescent Chambers wrote.
When Mr Abdulrahman was confronted with the stance of the law on underage marriage and rape, he insisted he did nothing wrong as he was married to the teenager and had the right to have sex with her.
When this reporter contacted the Family Unit of the Osun State Police Command, where the case is being handled, the respondent to the telephone call said the law enforcement agency was conducting an independent investigation.
“We are working on it. Although we have invited the Alfa, he was not around at that time. We have heard from the girl and we are still investigating the case.”
“Be rest assured that we will get to the root of the matter and justice will prevail,” the official said.
Also, the state coordinator for the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Abayomi Ogundele, promised the commission would follow up the case with the police.
“I told the Divisional Police Officer to investigate it himself and not assign anyone to the case. We’ll monitor the police and make sure they do the needful.”
“You cannot say you are married to a 16-year-old child. Child marriage is forbidden in the state. Anyways, we’ll wait for the police to conclude their investigations before we do anything,” He said.
While making enquiries on to the records of Mr Abdulrahman, we learnt that a similar allegation was made in 2014 by a father who had sent four children to live with the scholar.
Ishaq Adeoye was based in Ibadan then but wanted his children to attend a sound Islamic school and found Mr Abdulrahman’s school suitable for them.
In a telephone interview with this reporter, Mr Adeoye said one of his daughters once complained of being assaulted by the scholar but they did not take it seriously until she got married in 2014.
“Those times when she came home, she complained to my wife but we thought she was being mischievous until when her husband told us the same in 2014.
“Her husband told us that he didn’t meet her as a virgin and that it was Alfa that deflowered her in one of the assault encounters she had with him.”
When quizzed if the cleric was approached and reported, Mr Adeoye stated that he confronted the cleric who denied the allegation. But he did not take legal actions because he did not want public attention.
Also, the husband of the victim who preferred to be identified as Saleem explained that he used to be a friend of the scholar until his wife disclosed that to him.
“I was shocked and told her to swear that if she was lying, she should run mad in the next seven days. She did. Then, after that, some revelations came up. The man is really evil.”
Reacting to this, Mr Abdulrahman did not deny knowing Mr Adeoye and his four children but said the allegation of rape was false.
He further said the family had something different against him but did not clarify when asked by this reporter.
“If someone has something against you, it is possible that you don’t know what it is about,” Mr Abdulrahman said.