Stephanie Okereke Linus Responds To Rape Allegation

Stephanie Linus has released a statement addressing the rape allegations against her older brother, Daniel Okereke, who was arrested for allegedly raping a UNILAG student. Read here Like any right thinking woman, Stephanie is devastated by this. See her statement below..

"Rape is Rape, Regardless of Who the Face of the Accused is” - Stephanie Linus

I am distraught and devastated to hear of the recent allegation of rape brought against a relative of mine, Daniel Okereke (my brother).

While it is a very difficult time for me, and my family; I feel the need to make clear my position, lest there be any doubt. Rape is rape, regardless of who the face of the accused is.

Indeed, the irony is not lost on me. I have spent my lifelong career advocating and living my conviction that women around the world should be able to live free of violence, sexual harassment or any form of abuse against their persons. This conviction led me to be involved in numerous initiatives combating violence against women in several countries including the U.S, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The conviction also led me to place much of my energy on my work with Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF), a passion that dates back to my time at the University of Calabar.

As a student, I heard a story about young girls who had been forced into early marriage and were suffering the negative and embarrassing effects of VVF. The story stayed in my consciousness and drove me, for years, to seek ways to raise awareness on the condition; leading to my work with a team of dedicated doctors to carry out repair surgeries for VVF victims across the country; and my self-produced, soon to be released movie, ‘DRY.’

Stepfather Rapes Teen Repeatedly.

Parents and adults generally have responsibility to care for, educate, and discipline children but when the children begin to detest the parents, then the situation calls for concern.

13 -year-old Blessing Chia allegedly fell victim to regular beating by his step father, Mr Benjamin Richard, 35, who, as she claimed, later lusted after her.

The allegation by the girl that the step father serially raped her to the point of her getting pregnant is a subject of police investigations.

Blessing told Sunday Vanguard, “The first time my mother was not around, he took cane and was beating me and told me that if I messed up, he would kill me, and that if I shouted or if my mummy heard anything about it, he was going to kill me. “So the one that happened on Thursday, November 13, 2014,   I told him that I would tell my mummy and I dared to see if he would kill me. So l told my mummy.

He raped me four times, the first time was when my mother travelled to Makurdi, Benue State.’’

Blessing’s mother, Mrs Grace Richard, 30, said her daughter reported to her that the stepfather raped her but her husband denied it when she confronted him.

She confirmed that it was during the period she travelled to her home state (Benue) and left her daughter in the care of her stepfather that he first allegedly raped her. ‘’That was two months ago when I travelled to Makurdi and she told me immediately I came back,” the mother said. “My husband denied and even threatened to beat me black and blue if l ever asked him such a question again”.

Grace said she was not, in the real sense of it, married to the father of Blessing whom she had at the age of 17 before the father died in a motor accident last year.

Blessing’s mother said she and her current husband have been together for four years during which she had a boy child for him. The boy, she said, lives with her mother-in-law.

Mrs Martina Moses, Grace’s elder sister, told Blessing’s story to Sunday Vanguard.