By Gbenga Ojikutu
It was supposedly meant to be a glorious home coming on December 10, 2014 for a returnee couple, Mr. Tolulope Augustus Olokesusi, his wife, Ofonime Ukpe Ben and their little girl child
After years of living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Olokesusi on this day, returned to his hometown Ise Ekiti with his family after their marriage ceremony and to introduce their child to the family for the first time.
But the joy and expectations of the historic moment was cut short by a strange unfortunate incident.
Giving his account, Olokesusi claimed that shortly after his arrival at his family residence at No. 43 Erinwa Street, there was palpable tension in the ancestral family home as members of the family, led by the current family head, insisted that his innocent daughter, Nicole, must undergo a painful process of female genital mutilation. It was a demand he refused without hesitation.
According to him; “I could never allow something like that to happen to my child,” he said.
Invariably, that blatant refusal, he recalls, triggered physical violence as his wife was stabbed in the thigh while he was brutality injured in his attempt to rescue the traumatized wife inside his own home.
He says the situation escalated beyond control that his wife lost a three-month pregnancy having suffered severe beaten.
Olokesusi lamented; “It was not just an attack as we not only lost our unborn child, but also our sense of safety, and our peace.”
However, the distressed and battered couple in desperate search of justice and protection, reported the incident to the police.
But in a curious twist, the police dismissed the case as a family dispute and advised that the matter should be resolved within the family.
Meanwhile, the couple had been practically cut off from from returning to Nigeria over the threat that their girl child must undergo the barbaric practice of female genital mutilation.
Olokesusi’s family ordeal got worsen four years later, in 2018 when his mother passed away due to psychological trauma she allegedly suffered during her son’s aborted homecoming.
Today, the embattled Olokesusi carries the weight of multiple losses, the loss of his unborn child his late mother and his inability to bring his family home without fear.
“I just want to live in peace,” he said. “I want my daughter to grow up safe. I want my family to come home without being molested.”
Now, he is speaking out, not only for himself but for others who may be facing similar situations in silence.
He is calling on the government and society to take a firm stand against female genital mutilation and protect families from violence carried out in the name of tradition.
“This is not culture,” he said. “This is harmful.”
His request is simple. He wants justice. He wants protection. Above all, he wants the freedom to raise his child without fear.
Until that happens, home remains a place he cannot safely return to.
