ANAMBRA, Nigeria — The husband of 36-year-old Anulika Onyeanusia has recounted how he discovered that his wife was allegedly sexually abusing their eight-year-old daughter after a friend showed him a video of the incident.
Onyeanusia was arrested by the Anambra State Police Command after the video surfaced online, while four children were rescued from the family’s residence in Onitsha.
Her husband, Ikechukwu Onyeanyusi, disclosed details of the incident in a video shared on Saturday by the Anambra State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare, reports Nigerian Tribune.
He said he learnt about the alleged abuse on Thursday evening while returning from his business when a friend showed him the video.
According to him, he had not seen the video on social media before his friend brought it to his attention.
“I saw the video. It was my wife, and I saw my daughter. She was molesting the child.
“I got a kind of confused and ‘What is this? What is happening? Could this be true?’ Immediately, I wanted to leave, but my friend held me. He said no, no, I should calm down, I should take it easy,” he recounted.
Onyeanyusi said he subsequently confronted his wife about the video, but she denied the allegation and claimed the footage had been generated using artificial intelligence.
“I came to her, and I asked her, ‘What exactly is this that I saw on the internet?’ She said what? ‘I saw your video molesting my daughters. How come this happened?’ She said no. That it’s not true,” he said.
He said he challenged her explanation after watching the footage.
“I saw you! I saw your video! I saw everything, and you are telling me it’s not true? What makes it not to be true?”
“And she said that it’s AI,” he added.
The father said he returned to his friend and asked whether artificial intelligence could have been used to create such a video.
He said police officers subsequently arrived at their residence, searched the premises and arrested his wife.
“Before I knew it, police have already come to my house. They said they want to search. I said to them, ‘Okay.’ So they did all the searching they did, they arrested her and all of us left,” he said.
According to Onyeanyusi, his wife later admitted the allegation during questioning at the police station.
He said the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) called him into the office while his wife was being questioned.
“The DPO asked me in her presence, ‘Do you know about what your wife is doing with my… daughters?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t know.’
“Then they asked her, ‘Did your husband know about this?’ And she also said no, that ‘I didn’t know… he didn’t know about it.’
“That is when I turned to her, I asked her, ‘Did you do this, really?’ And she said yes,” he recounted.
Onyeanyusi said his wife’s admission left him devastated.
“I got weak. I got tired. How come this kind of a thing can happen? How can you do this kind of a thing?
“I just sat down in the police office, I can’t get myself. I was, you know, reasoning, ‘What is this? What has happened to me?’” he said.
The Anambra State Police Command had earlier said Onyeanusia was arrested on September 10 following open-source intelligence concerning a viral video allegedly showing a woman sexually abusing a minor.
The command said four children, aged two, three, six and nine, were rescued during the operation.
Police also reportedly recovered sex toys and other items from the residence as part of the investigation.
The command said the suspect remained in custody while investigation continued to establish the circumstances surrounding the alleged offence and determine whether other persons were involved.
In a separate interrogation video circulated online, Onyeanusia reportedly told investigators that she uploaded content involving her daughter on a pornographic platform in exchange for money.
She reportedly said she was paid up to $300 for some of the content, blamed the devil for her actions and pleaded for forgiveness.
She also reportedly maintained that her husband was unaware of her activities.
Speaking publicly about the incident, Onyeanyusi said he was deeply disappointed by his wife’s alleged actions.
“I am totally disappointed in my wife. I never believed that she is going to do this kind of a thing, even to the daughter… to her own daughter and to my own daughter. I never believed it.
“That is why I decided to make this video to the public to know,” he said.
Meanwhile, Anambra State First Lady, Dr Nonye Soludo, condemned the alleged abuse and pledged to monitor the case.
She also promised that the affected children would receive medical, psychological and rehabilitation support.
