A 43-year-old man, Biodun Oladapo, who was arrested by the Ogun State Police Command for impregnating his 19-year-old daughter, tells DAUD OLATUNJI about the incident
What do you do for a living?
I’m working with the So-safe Corps as a provost. I live in Mowe, in Ogun state
For how long have you been working there?
I have done that (worked with So-safe Corps) for three years.
What is your educational qualification?
I have a school leaving certificate. I have an O-level result.
How many wives and children do you have?
I have one child and I have never been married. I only have a ‘baby mama’. She was my girlfriend when she conceived and had the child. Well, it’s not like I’ve married her. She was like my girlfriend and I impregnated her and she left.
Did you live together?
We didn’t live together.
How long have you been separated from the mother of your child?
I have never lived with the mother of my child. I’m just thinking of marrying another wife because I don’t have a wife for now. So, we have been separated for 18 years now.
The child used to live with her mother and I stayed in Ojota. But I used to go back home on weekends. So, I just visited them but we never lived together from the start.
How old is your child?
She is 18 years and some months old but will turn 19 in June.
When did she move in with you?
She started living with me in December 2021 because she insisted she wanted to live with me. Her mother told her not to but she did not listen to her. My daughter came to my house. She has been living with me for a year and some months now.
What is her level of education?
She did not complete her secondary school education. She dropped out of school saying she could not comprehend what she was being taught in school and insisted she would learn some skills. With that, I enrolled her in a place to learn fashion design and she started learning. She started learning the skill about a year ago.
How will you describe your daughter?
She is the type of person that likes cuddling. She cuddled me sometimes when we were in bed. She hugged me, and knelt to greet me when I got back from work. She is a free-spirited person and she easily gets acquainted with people.
Since you said you didn’t have a wife, how do you manage your sexual drive?
I don’t have sexual urges due to some challenges I am faced with but in 18 years, I have had girlfriends. Because one gave me a child, I said I would not do anything (have a sexual relationship) with anyone.
But later I met a woman I wanted to marry after my ex deceived me. Unfortunately, my daughter does not approve of her because she doesn’t like her and constantly fights with her and that led to our separation. This happened last year.
What kind of apartment do you live in with your daughter?
It’s a one-room apartment. We both live in a self-contained apartment, so we slept in the same room.
Do you think it is morally right to live in the same room with your 18-year-old daughter as a man?
Well, she’s my daughter and I know it is wrong for us to sleep on the same bed. I did it (slept on the same bed with her) with a free mind. Everything is just like a movie to me.
My mother shared a revelation from a pastor with me saying that I should return the child and asked me whether I knew the kind of child she was. She said she (my daughter) was not supposed to live with me at all.
What was the revelation given by the pastor?
She added that the pastor warned me that the child was not an ordinary being. I also discovered that she is not ordinary but I believed that if she went to church instead of staying elsewhere, she would receive salvation and I believed that if she was with me she would cope with everything.
Even those that come to my place for prayer and the church I attend confirmed that the child was not an ordinary one and I was asked to return her to her mother. So, I called her mother and she said there was no space or place I could keep the child. Since I could not chase my daughter away from my house, I told her that she could stay till she completed her training and move on with her life.
What led to her pregnancy?
Hmm. I swear that I am telling the truth. I didn’t sleep with her willingly. One fateful day, when she got back from work, she came to me and started seducing me and I could not tell what was happening to me anymore. I believe it was not ordinary because the girl is not an ordinary person. It was after we were done that I realised what had been done.
I took a step by wanting to let her out of my house, but her mother didn’t accept her and the child said she would not live with her mother. I cannot recall how it happened the second time. What I know is that I was sleeping when she came on top of me and we did it and it is the same with the other times. I didn’t use a condom, I didn’t even know when everything happened.
How many times did you sleep with your daughter?
We did it three to four times and since we did it the last time, I’ve been avoiding her and I work day and night at my workplace, to avoid her.
What was her reaction the first time?
After she was done with her rubbish, she apologised. Whenever I asked her why she did that, she said she did not know what to do any time she was in the mood.
When was the last time you slept with her?
The last time we did it was around June or September last year (2022). No one has ever caught us in the act. We live in a self-contained apartment, so nobody knew what happened.
You claimed it is spiritual, what step did you take to end the problem?
I wanted to talk to someone about it, but I did not want to be embarrassed about it? I thought no one would believe me if I exposed it; they would think I was just lying. Since we lived together, I have been avoiding her because I know she is not an ordinary being. I started doing day and night shifts just to avoid her. I only went home to change my clothes and I returned to work pending the time she would become normal.
I also told her to go to the church in my area for deliverance. A woman in the church told her to fast and pray for three days. The woman assured me that the Lord would intervene and that she would be okay. Despite the assurance, I still tried to avoid her, and with the look of things it looked like the girl had a mission to accomplish in her life.
Why are you convinced that your daughter seduced you when you know you are an adult?
I can say categorically that my daughter seduces me and after that, I don’t know what happens. But after everything is done, I return to my senses. When I told her mother to come and take her child, the woman said she was also my child and she hung up on me and I was wondering where I could take this girl because it was obvious that she wanted to implicate me. When her mother refused to take her back, I spent two to three days without coming home because I attend church programmes.
I also told her (my daughter) to get herself a boyfriend because I believed she would shift her attention to him but she told me she had a boyfriend and his name is Michael.
Is she on good terms with him?
In December last year, she told me they fought. Later on, one of my close friends told me he saw my daughter with a man. He even told the man that my daughter was a small girl and that he should stop following her.
When did you discover she was pregnant?
We discovered she was pregnant in December (2022) and as a father, I asked her who impregnated her and she told me Michael was responsible. The day my friend and some other people went to meet him and ask whether he had slept with my daughter before, he confirmed that he slept with the girl in November. I called to meet the man and his father to know how to resolve the matter, even if he was not ready for marriage but the man and his son didn’t show up; only his mother showed concern.
If I knew her mother’s house, I would have taken her there. So I called my daughter and asked her if the man was truly responsible for the pregnancy and she said yes. Unknown to me, my daughter told Michael’s family that I was responsible for the pregnancy, but whenever I asked the girl who was responsible for it, she said it was Michael. Since then, I knew that the girl has a particular mission for my life. And my daughter told them that I threatened to kill her if she told anyone I was responsible.
Are you saying you are not responsible for the pregnancy?
I was fighting against what isn’t right before my child told them something else. Before I knew it, she told them I was responsible for it. I was more surprised when we got to the (police) station and she said I got her pregnant and that Michael never slept with her. I didn’t threaten her at all.
How old is her pregnancy?
She’s five months and some weeks pregnant. I don’t think I am responsible for the pregnancy because, before November (2022), I had been avoiding her and did not sleep in the house. They should go for a DNA test, and if the result says I am responsible for the pregnancy, I don’t know what I will do. When the girl has said everywhere in public that I’m responsible for it, there’s nothing I can do about it again.
How were you arrested?
I got to the station on Tuesday. I was called to report to the station and I went willingly. I regretted my actions because if I had listened to people that told me to return the child to her mother, all this wouldn’t have happened. I’m regretting it. Well, when she gives birth, it is fine. We cannot abandon her and her baby. I will take responsibility. The government should help me because I seriously don’t know what’s going on. It should have mercy on me.
