Father who pleaded guilty to impregnating his daughter retracts guilty plea after his daughter, NGO workers, and others died in accident on their way to the court

Last week, it was reported that a pregnant girl who was allegedly raped by her father and an NGO worker died in an accident on their way to court (read here). It has now been revealed that the girl's father, who is responsible for her pregnancy, has now retracted his guilty plea, following her death.

Jacob Alonge, a native doctor who is known for his diabolical powers, was accused of impregnating his own daughter, Gift, multiple times and even aborting the pregnancy once. The latest pregnancy is what led to him being charged with incest.

The 54-year-old pleaded guilty to the rape of his 17-year-old daughter. He was to be sentenced following the guilty plea. However, on getting to the court for the sentencing, he changed his guilty plea after he got information that his daughter, her uncle, and the NGO workers who were working on her case all got involved in an accident on the way to the magistrates’ court in Benin City, Edo State and all died.

Seeing as his daughter was no longer alive to accuse him and testify against him, he retracted his guilty plea.

Among those who also died in the car crash were Gift’s uncle, Mr Ukere Adagbogu; a worker with a non-governmental organisation, BraveHeart Initiative for Youth and Women, Ms Promise Ezekiel; and the driver, Paul Opashi. Another NGPO worker - Ms Rhoda Braimoh -  who was in a critical condition, was reported to have also died, bringing the casualty figure to five, and if you add the unborn baby, that makes it 6.

Gift and her father lived in Ososo, Akoko-Edo area of Edo State. Jacob Alonge constantly molested his daughter, a minor. When she got pregnant in 2017, he terminated the pregnancy using herbal concoctions, Punch reports.

The second pregnancy was said to have caught the attention of the local vigilante group and they handed him over to the traditional ruler of the Ososo community.

At the Ososo Police Station, Jacob allegedly made a confessional statement, as the case was transferred to the family unit of the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Benin City.

A scan was carried out on Gift and it revealed she was 21 weeks pregnant.

The police subsequently arraigned the suspect before a family court at the Evbuoraria Magistrates’ Court, Benin, where he pleaded guilty to the charges in December 2018.

On January 16, 2019, the day the suspect was to be sentenced, the pregnant Gift, her uncle, workers of the NGO who were helping her, the driver and the leader of the community vigilante group were involved in a fatal accident at Ewu, Edo State.

The judgment was reportedly suspended when the news of the tragedy got to the attention of the court. Shaken by the incident, the NGO handling the victim's case also shut down operations.

According to Punch, when the matter came up on January 16, 2019, Jacob changed his plea from guilty to not guilty.

Ms Priscilla Usiobaifo, the founder of BraveHeart Initiative, said in a statement on Sunday, that only justice would assuage the death of their workers who lost their lives while fighting for justice for Gift Alonge.

Usiobaifo said:

They (victims) died on the field, while serving humanity. They sacrificed their lives to ensure that justice is obtained for a young girl (Gift Alonge, now demised), whose father had sexually abused and serially assaulted for years and even impregnated on multiple occasions.

The BHI hereby calls for justice for Gift Alonge, as the accused (Jacob Alonge), changed his plea from guilty to not guilty after learning about his daughter’s death, as well as the death of other key witnesses.

I urge all civil rights activists, feminist sisters, NGO colleagues and the Akoko-Edo community, especially the Ososo people, to rise to the occasion and demand the much-desired justice.