By Doreen Eweama
Born into an affluent family, I did not lack anything I needed or wanted. I am Susan Ken, a tall, slender and fair-skinned girl. I have three siblings. I am a brilliant and beautiful twenty-one-year old, the dream child of every parent. Unlike my siblings, I never caused trouble in within and without the neighbourhood, which made my parents proud of me.
I attended one of the most prestigious secondary schools in the country, and as a final year student, I was under a lot of pressure from my parents, teachers and relations. Being serious-minded, I hardly engaged in any activity that would not add any positive value to my life. After months of studying, the time we were all preparing for eventually came - the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE). Many of my mates were scared, but I drew confidence and inspiration from my mother's saying, "Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance", what I also call, 'The 5P's Escape Route From Failure'. So, we sat for the examination within a month and two weeks after, I wrote my Universities & Tertiary Institutions Matriculation Examination (UTME). I got 290 marks out of 400 and was very happy and prayed for my success in the SSCE. I know most of you will be wondering why I was happy at scoring only 290/400? If you have ever written a 'JAMB' examination, you will understand that 290 is an A* performance.
Four months later, the results of our SSCE were released and I had 'A-parallel ', i.e., 9A's. I was so excited, my parents' joy knew no bounds, and for the next four months, I was treated as the queen of the house. On our valedictory service, in spite of the fact that I was not a prefect, I was given a five-star treatment because I won the prize for the best graduating student, which went with a cash benefit of N50,000 (fifty thousand naira only). Everybody wanted to have photo shots with me - my parents, siblings, teachers, school management and my friends. At the end of the day, I was so exhausted.
Two months after my valedictory service, I was invited to the University of Lagos (UNILAG) for my Post-UME. I passed the test with about 88 points and was granted admission on merit to study medicine, my dream course!. My parents paid for my tuition, accommodation and other requirements even before the new session began. On the day of resumption, I was given the sum of N100,000 (one hundred thousand naira only) as my allowance. On my way to the hostel, I met two girls, Bimbo and Vanessa, who told me that they also gained admission into the university to study theatre arts and physiotherapy respectively. I later discovered that Vanessa and I were bunkmates.
We got to know each other and we seemed to share common interests. She was also studious like me. However, unlike me, she was from a poor family, but this did not deter her from being the best she wanted to be; and that was what endeared her to me. We became best of friends, even closer than some siblings.
In our third year on campus, Vanessa made a new friend, named Sandra. Sandra was corrupt, dumb, and whorish. She was the type you would classify as a 'runz girl' on campus. She was ready to sleep with everything in a pair of trouser, provided they have the money to spare. When Vanessa introduced her to me, I knew at a glance that she was loose. I tried to advise her about her companionship with Sandra, but she paid no heed to my warnings. The only choice I had, which was a difficult one to make, was to stop moving around with her, because I did not want to lose focus.
Before you could say, "Jack Robinson!", Vanessa started skipping classes. She began attending clubs and keeping late night. She also had a guy, whom she said was her boyfriend, called Tunde. Sandra introduced him to Vanessa. Tunde was tall, hunky and charming. He was the type of guy, a girl would easily fall for, but as the saying goes, "Never judge a book from its cover". Unknown to Vanessa, Tunde was the leader of one of the notorious cult groups on campus known as the 'Sons of Darkness'.
As usual, I kept on doing well in my courses, and was the favorite of every lecturer in my department. On the other hand, Vanessa's grades started declining due to her new commitment, you guess right - Tunde!. One day, she told me that her younger sister, Priscilla, would be marking her birthday, which will also be used to celebrate her success in her SSCE, and requested that I go with her. On that fateful day, after much persuasion, I reluctantly followed Vanessa to the venue, which was a clubhouse called 'Dance Till You Drop...'.
On getting inside, we met Tunde with some guys that I presumed were his fellow cult group members. I did not see any shadow of Priscilla's, nor anyone from her family. When I asked Vanessa, she said they were on their way to the venue. She made me believe her as she continually faked some phone calls in my presence, as if she was monitoring them. By this time, it was 11:00pm. The impact of the sound system almost broke my ear drums. We had to shout at the top of my our voices before we could hear ourselves.
Tunde and his cohorts offered us two glasses of drink, which they drank but I politely rejected it, because I started smelling a rat. Being her friends, Vanessa took a glass and drank from it. Unknown to her, the edges of the glasses were laden with some sedatives, which meant that putting the glass in your mouth even without the drink will get you sedated. After a while, she started feeling tipsy. It was then it dawned on me what I had gotten myself into. I suggested to Vanessa that it was high time we left the place, but she told me, she did not feel like going yet.
I secretly left the club hall because the air was reeking of cigarettes and alcohol. I needed to get to the restroom first, before finding my way back to the hostel. I was ready to take that risk than remain in that club with those sons of the devil. After finishing from the restroom, on my way out of the clubhouse, I suddenly heard Vanessa's voice in the nearby bush screaming for help. I peeped to check what was going on, only to find her so-called boyfriend, Tunde and his fellow group members taking turns on her until she passed out. I took out my phone and contacted the police, but before they arrived, the culprits had escaped.
She was rushed to the hospital, but the deed had already been done. The doctor conducted several tests on her and found out that her womb had been severely damaged and her vagina had been torn. I contacted her parents and informed them about the incident. They begged me to help take care of her until they come the next day, as they were not in town, when I called. The matter was reported to the university authority, who ordered the police to carry out a full scale investigation and bring the perpetrators to book. So, Tunde and his 'brothers' were eventually arrested, and interrogated.
In their confessional statement, they stated that they got their powers by raping virgins until they pass out, and since they knew I was a virgin, they convinced Vanessa to trick me into coming to the clubhouse that night. However, to their utmost disappointment, I refused to take the drink they offered me. So, they had to vent their frustrations on Vanessa, whom they claimed, did not do her job well (I wonder how!). They were eventually rusticated. Although, I feel sorry for Vanessa, I am eternally grateful to God, because it could have been me.
My dear readers, this is no fairy tale, t is actually what happens to 1 out of every 10 girls on our campuses. Majority of the cases are unreported because they are never known. I would like this to serve as an eye-opener to my fellow teenagers who get carried away on gaining admissions into higher institutions. We tend to drop the values, which were inculcated in us by our loving parents, all in the name of freedom. We quickly make friends with whosoever comes our way; we swallow everything they tell us hook-line-and-sinker without taking time to carry out background checks about them, in order to know more about their dark sides, which they will never reveal to us. We want to be the most talked about babes on campus, neglecting the major reason of our being there. Even when our minds tell us that something is wrong with our companionships, we still ignore our instincts. Imagine what would have been of Susan, if she had ignored her intuitions?
For how long will we keep falling preys to these sex-drunk and evil-minded baboons? For how long will we keep falling victims of cheap emotional blackmails? The time to stop is come, yea, the set time for a change in attitude is NOW!
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