”Never stop voicing out, awareness is victory”- Celebrity Mum, Busola Dakolo Charges Other Victims Of Rape & Sexual Abuse After Court Threw Out Her Rape Case
”Never stop voicing out, awareness is victory”- Celebrity Mum, Busola Dakolo Charges Other Victims Of Rape & Sexual Abuse After Court Threw Out Her Rape Case
For celebrity photographer and mum, Busola Dakolo, her coming out to speak about her alleged rape experience at the hands of Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, was a victory for her beyond the court hearing of the case. The awareness that her story created and the courage that it gave to many otherwise hushed victims of sexual abuse marked the beginning of victory for her.
Five months after the mum-of-three shared about her ordeal involving the COZA Pastor during an interview, an Abuja court threw out her case and ordered she pays a fine of N1m for wasting the court’s time.
The judge posited that the matter amounts to injustice and an abuse of judicial process, adding that the case was empty and purely sentimental. Justice Musa insisted that the case was aimed more at cruelty than obtaining justice.
But reacting to the ruling shortly after the judge’s pronouncement, Busola, through her lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, disclosed that she was going to appeal the matter.
In a post on her official Instagram handle, Busola had the following to say,
“When I set about confronting one of my biggest fears and a horrible experience from my past, the first hurdle was finding the confidence to. Victims usually do not find a place for their voice, certainly not in our deeply conservative country where might is right and a virtue while innocence is a license for abuse and disregard.
I had no illusions about the herculean task before me in not only openly confronting the man behind the mask but seeking remedy and sanction against him before the court.
I set out to ease the hurt, the sense of shame and abuse, the nightmares and traumas not by securing judicial victory only but by boldly sharing my story and calling out my transgressor robed in the vestiges of clerical power and pretense.
I understood and accepted that by voicing out was silencing the screams in the night.
Ever since my story broke, the reactions were mixed but largely comforting. I noted that otherwise hushed victims of rape and sexual abuse were taking a cue from my stoicism in the face of ridicule and opposition and sharing their equally appalling stories.
It is in this response that my victory was sealed, in knowing that one woman’s boldness could encourage others and challenge the institutionalised silence and the repression of the victim’s narrative by a culture of guilt-tripping, stigma and an inexplicable clamour to make irrational excuses for sexual offenders.
Even so, there is much to be said about what transpired in court.
In the court’s wisdom, my legal action is statue barred and that means the time has passed within which I could or should have initiated the suit.
The substance of the suit which is my allegations of sexual abuse leading to emotional distress on my person against Mr Biodun Fatoyinbo has neither been entertained by the court nor ruled upon. I believe that the effect of the injurious claim is a continuous one that transcends time and place. Awareness is victory
This has only made me to wonder more what a country we have. I was particularly surprised at the hearing of the case when the court said the file was missing and later when the court said my own processes cannot be found and finally the case is out of time. This only shows that we have a lot to address to bring sanity to our country.
Today, I am glad that my voice is not silenced and this is victory for me. I must encourage every woman out there to keep the pace and never stop voicing out against the evil of rape and sexual abuse.
We must not give up for our victory lies more in finding our voice than anything else.”
