Mrs. Emiabata, 30, the statement noted, was arrested and detained for four days before her arraignment in court on August 24 on a 10-count charge.
Two human rights groups, Women Arise for Change and Campaign for Democracy (CD), have called on Nigerians to support Titilayo Emiabata, who is facing harassment from police after she revealed that her husband deliberately infected her with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
In a statement jointly signed by Joe Okei-Odumakin, President, Women Arise for Change, and Obatungashe Adebayo, Deputy President, Campaign for Democracy, the two groups said Mrs. Emiabata is facing trumped charges bordering on housebreaking and stealing because she exposed the HIV status of her husband, Naval Lieutenant Commander Kazeem Owolabi Emiabata.
The case (MAG/55C/2017), filed by the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, will be heard on Thursday before Senior Magistrate E.O. Idowu of the Chief Magistrate Court, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.
Mrs. Emiabata, 30, the statement noted, was arrested and detained for four days before her arraignment in court on August 24 on a 10-count charge.
“We call on gender rights advocates, human rights activists and the media to show solidarity with Mrs. Emiabata in court,” said the groups.
According to them, Mrs. Emiabata’s husband, the nominal complainant whose duty post is the Barracks Maintenance Unit of the Nigerian Navy in Port Harcourt, deliberately infected his wife with HIV and threw her out of their matrimonial home. The woman, explained the statement, was thrown out following her discovery of anti-retroviral drugs being used by the husband and medical records showing he had been on treatment for a long period without disclosing his status to her.
On discovery, Mrs. Emiabata confronted the husband and later told her parents about her predicament when she tested HIV positive after medical examination.
Lieutenant-Commander Emiabata, the statement added, threatened to deal with his wife if she exposed his HIV status, using the police and other means to “kill her before HIV/AIDS kills him."
This, said the rights organizations, is the reason for Mrs. Emiabata’s prosecution by the police. They noted that following being thrown out of their matrimonial home, Mrs. Emiabata went to move her personal belongings out and was accused of burglary by the police at the instigation of her husband.
“The Women Arise for Change and the Campaign for Democracy demands that justice should be done in this case. We reject the treatment meted out to Mrs Titilayo Emiabata by her Naval officer husband, in connivance with the Divisional Police Officer of Ago-Iwoye in Ogun State,” the groups said.
They also commended Mr. Inibehe Effiong, the Lagos-based human rights lawyer representing Mrs. Emiabata, for his determination to defend her pro bono and bring her husband to book.
In addition, the commended Mrs. Emiabata for having the courage to make her travails public for the sake of other vulnerable members of the society, particularly oppressed women.
