Teenage Girls And The Era Of Social Lifestyle Media

Teenage Girls And The Era Of Social Lifestyle Media

Widespread condemnation has greeted the recent kidnap hoarse of a 14-year-old daughter of Enugu politician, who secretly travelled from Enugu to Owerri to spend time with her boyfriend. It has equally raised fresh questions on the negative impact of the social media and lack of parental control on teenage girls’ sexual life.

When Mr. Frank Anioma, a top politician from Nkanu East local government area of Enugu state, put up a post on his Facebook wall shortly after mid-day, on August 22, that his 14-year-old daughter, Kosisochukwu, had been kidnapped on her way to New Haven Market in Enugu metropolis, it triggered an alarm on the social media.

Frank Anioma, a former aide to Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, wrote: “Please friends and good Nigerians, help me; my daughter, Kosisochukwu Anioma, was kidnapped this morning, Thursday, 22nd August, about 7am on her way to New Heaven Market. Her phone +234 902*** 4532 was ringing without response. Now, it’s ringing line busy. Please, help repost this. Who knows, God will show us mercy.”

As soon as Enugu state police command got the distressed report, it deployed its Anti-Kidnap Unit to find and rescue the missing girl. When the Junior Secondary School 3 student was eventually traced to Owerri and rescued, she confessed to the police that she was never kidnapped but willingly left home and secretly travelled to Imo state to see her boyfriend.

According to a statement issued by the state command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Ebere Amaraizu, on August 24, Kosisochukwu, who was sent to market to buy things, diverted and headed to motor park at Holy Ghost, Enugu, without telling anyone where she boarded a bus travelling to Owerri where she met her boyfriend.

“According to her, both of them had been secondary school friends at Abakiliki; but she needed to go see him following the prolonged school holiday. Kosisochukwu, 14, is going to SSS 1 if school reopens; same with her boyfriend, who hails from Owerri in Imo state,’’ Amaraizu.

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Meanwhile, following his daughter’s discovery and return, Mr. Anioma took to his Facebook and wrote: “My people, I am so proud of you guys. I love you all (Ifedikaunuakokwanam). Please, join me to thank God. He has done it. Your prayer has been answered. My daughter is alive and she’s at home now. I thank you all for your prayers, visits and words of encouragement. May none of you experience such trauma in Jesus name, Amen. We give God all the praise”.

Expectedly, Miss Anioma’s controversial trip to Owerri to spend time with her lover, has drawn widespread condemnation on the social media. But, more importantly, it has brought to the spotlight the ugly phenomenon of underaged girls’ exposure to sexual relationship in Nigeria.

“A 14-year-old girl sneaking out of home, travel to another city to go spend time with boyfriend? Wonders shall never end. What a shame? This is a big lesson to some parents that cannot discipline their children”, reacted Eberechi Okoro.

Ezedioranma Joseph Chukwuebuka added, “Don’t blame the girl, her parents spoilt her. Who gave her money for travel? Who gave her phone for communication? Who recharged her phone to make calls?” He queried, warning parents to be mindful of what they allow their children to possess or do.

Although, many commentators have blamed the parents for allowing their daughter the luxury of using internet enabled mobile phones and freedom to socialise with opposite sex, the reality remains that increasing number of girls are exposed to adult life nowadays before they reach teen age.

Apart from the shocking number of underaged girls that became sexually active as a result of rape, the exposure to social media has equally exposed increasing number of girls to sex lifestyle before adolescent age. Dr. Emmanuel Nwusulor, blamed Kosisochukwu’s truancy on the negative exposure to the social media.

“This is one of the social ‘benefits of social media’. More similar amazing things have happened, which we did not know. We got to know this because she is the daughter of a politician. At her age, the age of wanting to know and experience everything about life, there is need for adequate parental control”, he stressed.

Dr. Charles, a medical practitioner, also linked it to the boom in baby-factory business across Igboland. “We are in an era when increasing number of young girls, who become sexually active before they are matured, got impregnated by men that were not willing to marry them. And they end up looking for ways to either get rid of the pregnancy or the baby so, they can start afresh. The result is the baby-factory we are seeing around most cities nowadays”, he argued.

Other cases:

While Kosisochukwu may count herself lucky to have been traced, found and returned to her parents without life-threatening issues, others were not so lucky. Thousands of underaged girls, who ventured out on such illicit relationship had ended up with tears of regret, with scores not lucky to survive.

Another teenage girl identified simply as Chioma, had secretly left her house to live with her boyfriend of 16 years of age. It ended in regret. Many people would later blame her parents for not acting fast enough to stop her from following the wrong path.

But Orient Weekend gathered from Chioma’s cousin, Nkechi, that when she started misbehaving, several counsels and warnings from her parents fell on deaf ears. And when she failed to stop living wayward lifestyles, her parents raised alarm, turning to friends and relations for help.

Nkechi recalled, “Chioma’s lifestyle of sleeping around started at her 11 years of age, shortly after she entered JSS1 at Ogbunike Girls’ Secondary School in Anambra. She failed her JSS1 class because of her new lifestyle and refused to repeat the class, according the school rules. When her parents were contacted by the school management, it was resolved and she agreed to repeat the class without knowing that she had another plan.

According to Nkechi, the truancy in the boarding school continued until the parents were forced to transfer her to a nearby secondary school where she would be going from home.

“Throughout her junior classes, she did well until when she was given her SS2 result to take home and she used correction fluid to erase her teachers comment on her behaviours.

“When she could couldn’t explain the rationale for that and her father called her form mistress, the teacher then revealed that she was not serious with her academics, rather, all her discussion in school was more of sexual issues with boys.

“As if that wasn’t enough, at a point, she started bringing her boyfriends to their house whenever her parents went to market. And when her parents found out and punished her for it, she left their house to her boyfriend and stayed for three months without picking their calls.

According to Nkechi, following her decision to elope with her boyfriend, her father disowned her, and warned her not to come back to his house again. By the time her father was prevailed to accept her back, she was already impregnated and dumped by the boy.

“It took the intervention of a pastor and other family members to intervene in her case before her father could accept her back. By then, she already had a child and out of school and full of regrets for her past life”, Nkechi said.

Another underaged girl, who had similar experience ended up giving birth to her first child at the age of 14.

Orient Weekend learnt that the victim, identified as Ngozi, was a school dropout due to lack of financial support for her education. With a mentally deranged mother and no father to take her responsibility, Ngozi became a street girl, sleeping with men at early age for survival.

“As a result of her lifestyle, she had had unwanted pregnancy twice before she reached 16 years of age; and in the process of terminating the second unwanted pregnancy, because the guy who impregnated her refused to take responsibility or accepted to marry her, she lost her life”, the source, a relation told Orient Orient Weekend.