DR Yemi Olusola, who was accused of rape by a housewife has come out to explain his involvement in the saga which is being investigated by the Police at the Area F command. Lagos Olusola was at The Sun headquarters in Mazamaza, Lagos on Wednesday to tell his own side of the story. Excerpts:
You read our story on the rape allegation against you, what was your first reaction?
I first saw it as a whatsapp message on my phone. One of my contacts also sent a message to me from Port Harcourt. I did not know it was in The Sun. I called a vendor and got some papers. I asked for The Sun, I was on the queue to buy fuel. The normal thing that came to me was that I did not have a patient by the name Funke on April 9.
My second reaction was the part that says someone called me and I said that I would settle the matter. I never discussed with anybody about anything about settlement especially the press. I then recalled someone that I suspected. What I want to say about this matter is that I reported to the Police on Monday and mentioned the person I suspected. I had a patient on that day, April 9; her name is Toyin Bello not Funke. When this particular person came to my clinic, she presented herself as someone who had secondary infertility. This means someone who had a child before and finds it difficult to conceive after, it happens at any time to anybody. We prescribed test to her called Ovulation and Follicle tests, which is done 13 days after a woman’s last menstrual period called LMP. That is the time a woman ovulates statistically.
Have you seen a layer chicken when you slaughter it? You will see all kinds of eggs, there will be one egg that is ripe and ready to come out, that is what we call dominant follicle, every woman has it between the 13th and 17th day, to show if they are ovulating and producing egg.
That test was supposed to have commenced by Friday (April 8) which was her 13th day. You can do ovulation test through blood test or urine but blood is more expensive but far more accurate. People opt for urine which is cheaper. We took her sample. She was supposed to do about 13 tests and that two were to cost her N10, 000 and she asked for discount and I gave her 15 percent, after which she paid N8500. She said that since she was here, she wanted to do the entire test when she came on Monday, and that she would bring the money. This does not include the last two which is hormonal Assay and E2, which would cost about N12,000. We took her urine and modular test known as TVC (Transvaginal Scan) and discovered that she was spotting. Spotting means vaginal bleeding. I asked her that you are spotting and this is your 14th day. She said that that is how it normally happened, I told her that she could not do High Vaginal Swap because they will use cotton bud to collect sample because it was stained with blood and would not read accurately. She said at times, it would come like that and go back. I told her by Monday (April 11), she would continue with her test. She even called and said ‘thank you sir, am in my house now.’ On Monday, I was still studying and I received a call. She called me and asked me a question and I said when you come you can ask all your questions. She called again and I said, madam what’s the problem and she said that her menstruation had come full-blown. I said that if it had come full blown, you cannot continue with the follicle and ovulation test again but that she should come to the office around 12pm. I came around by10.30am and she was already around. I met her at the reception and we chatted. The nurse said she asked the woman her money and she said until I come around. She came and started explaining what she tried to say on the phone. I told her that she had hormonal imbalance which explains why she is menstruating every two weeks, so, we needed to do hormonal test and we can use the blood that was collected when she came on Saturday. I told her to go and show the nurse the paper and she was told that the test was 14,000. So she came back to me that she did not have money, that I should give her discount. I told her to pay N12, 000 but she said that I should reduce it to N10, 000. I told her that I am not Mr. Bello, her husband and the woman said that she doesn’t have money, that if she called her husband, he would not give her money. I asked her to go and pay the N10, 000 and forget about it. She said that she does not have ATM, I told her to go to her bank and use counter cheque. She said that she uses Skye bank and does not know where it is located. I now called my office assistant to take her to the bank . She took her to the banking hall. My assistant even left her there. I asked her to confirm if she actually took her to the bank. She did not call back or return to the clinic. On Tuesday, around 4 in the evening, my secretary came to my office that one woman wanted to see me with some people. The woman turned out to be the woman that came to my office the previous day, She came in with some persons. They said that they are police officers and that when we get to their station I would know what is happening. They said that they had a warrant to search my office. I asked them what they were looking for. Air freshener and used condom? I asked them which one they were looking for, is it the one on the wall or on my table? I told them to turn back that they can see as many condoms as possible. The policemen were even laughing; I showed them a machine that is used on women but that it cannot be used on one woman and another to avoid infection. So, you had to wear condom on the instrument and put gel inside before you use it. It was when I got to the police station, that they showed me a petition. I asked, at what point did this happen? Was it when I asked you to pay or what? I gave my own statement and later went to see their boss. I said my own side of the story and he asked her whether the rape was on Saturday or Monday. She said, Saturday and they asked her why she went there on Monday. The police asked her if she knew what they call rape. She later said that she was carried away. I challenged her that she was spotting, and she did not answer. I told them what transpired up to when I told her to go to the bank. That was afrom 5pm till 9pm. The police then asked everyone to leave. I did not go there with my car and she had a lot of people around her. Luckily, one of my brothers came and drove me away. Before we left, they said that the police should visit the scene of the crime the next day. On Wednesday, they came and took the picture of the machine. When they left, they said I should go back to the police station. When we got back to the police station, in the course of our discussion, she made two statements. One was that she sustained a wound on her leg; if she had wanted to lie, she would tell people that it was in the hospital that she sustained the injury. Even some people had asked me to settle her but I have refused. I read a lot of Hardly Chase when I was growing older and in one of his books, he said that there is no perfect crime, you will always make a mistake. When this thing happened on Saturday, I went there on Monday to complain. On Tuesday, the woman swore that she knew nothing about the publication. I told her to go and find out. They asked her what she wanted and she said nothing. The police told her that since she had brought a case, she needed to tell them what she wanted and that it is now a case between the state and the alleged. The police said that they would continue with their investigation.
Does it mean that the case is closed?
Yes, that was what I told her yesterday (Tuesday). The case has turned into the more you look, the less you see. When they asked her what she wanted, she said that she was living everything in the hands of God. They said that I should go, that if they need me, they would send for me.
It is a fact that she made an allegation?
Yes. My name should have been used in your publication rather than my business name. If anybody was in this place (The Sun) in 2008, I used to have a column. People don’t even call my name, people don’t know my name.
But two people called you from The Sun to hear your side of the story before it was published?
Did I say that I was going to settle the person in that conversation? There are two conversations in that place (story) with me.
What transpired with the reporter is a different thing. You see when a reporter brings his/her story; we also try and be sure that the reporter is not misleading us. We have another stage of crosschecking to be sure. That is why we called you without the knowledge of the reporte. This is to ensure sure that the reporter came with facts?
I want to hear the conversation. Have you seen me before, if you said that I was the one, please I want to hear the voice to confirm that I am the one.
What am trying to explain is that what transpired between you and Femi was on tape and you have admitted that took place?
Let me hear the recorded conversation. I guess the one that anchored the story is a woman and matured. Is it possible for a man and a woman to have sexual contact without body contact? Is it possible? How can you say that you don’t know what entered your body? This couch is about a feet, how do you want to sleep with somebody on the couch without your body touching the person. These are the natural questions that should be asked. How can you cross your leg and the person is not aware. The person recounted the story three times at the police station.
I don’t know if it is possible to have sex with a woman that is bleeding. She denied that she did not go to the press.
What did she go to the police to report?
I don’t know. It was when I got to the police station that I discovered that she came with a case of rape, and that she had a paper that she had written something. They asked her if what I said was the truth. And she said yes. They asked her why she went back to my office again on Monday if it happened on Saturday. She said she went to look at the office again so that she would not mistake the office again.
How long has she been your patient?
Just two days. She walked in on Saturday and the thing terminated on Monday. Even the girl that took her to bank came and asked ‘did I offend anybody.’
To help your narration, if your explanation is not logical, our readers are also intelligent people, they will start reading meaning, what is this man trying to hide? You said that when the police came to search your clinic, they were looking for instrument and condom, was there a time you inserted an instrument into her vagina?
Yes I did, that is what we call follicle test, it is called TVS. It’s an instrument.
Does it look like a penis?
How can it look like a penis?
Is it as tiny as your finger?
No, it is a little bit bigger than my finger
How did you wear a condom on it? You know condom is like the size of a penis, how do you wear it on it?
You put gel inside the condom and put the instrument and use rubber band to clip it at the back so that the condom will not pull out.
In her petition, she alleged that you wore a condom and penetrated her? Did she confront you after the test?
She was still in the room after doing the test, I left them to take the blood sample. After the blood sample, she was still there. She came back to get the result of the urine. As we did that test, we waited for the test to come out. When it came out, it was negative. She was supposed to continue the test but by Monday, she was bleeding.
Medically, is it allowed to conduct such test on a woman who is spotting? In my understanding spotting means that the menstruation was coming. Are you a medical doctor?
Let us leave that
We need to know because the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA has disowned you, meaning you are fake?
I am a trado medical practitioner.
Even if you are a trado medical practitioner, the fact that she was spotting, is it medically right to proceed with the test?
She did not know that she was spotting. It was when the tool went inside that I told her that madam, you are spotting. And she said that is the way it normally happens. She has complained like that before. She did not know because if she knew, she would have used sanitary pad. It was when the instrument came out that it showed that she was spotting.
Why do you think that she had gone to allege that you raped her?
I don’t know if it’s because I told her that she had to pay. She was owing N12,500 and when she came, she said that I should give her another credit and I said no. I told her to call her husband. Then she started telling me her life story on how she had a child 24 years ago at the age of 19.
When I said call your husband, she wanted to cry and I asked her not to cry because I did a test for her last Saturday when she promised to return the money. She did not pay anything on that Saturday.
You mean she did not pay on Saturday?
She paid N8500 for the two tests that were done.
What will you tell those calling you a fake doctor?
That is why I am here. I have not done anything wrong. I don’t know about her allegation. The allegation she brought, she recounted it herself to the extent that she told the police that she is not going ahead with the case again. What informed her action, I don’t know.
How do you react to the NMA that said you are fake?
I have given you the synopsis of what happened. I have no comment.
Can you give us the history of your medical practice?
I belong to the alternative branch of the herbal practice, that is why we call it alternative medicine and we are not regulated by the NMA. We have a different board. I have been around for the past 20 years. I had a column in 2008 in Saturday Sun. Two other national dallies gave me columns for free. Later, my activity got me a free Glo line. The training of a herbal practitioner is different from that of orthodox practice. We don’t do surgery and all the medication we apply come through alternative practice.
Who issued you the license to go into a woman?
That is not surgery; it is the work of a sonographer.
Are you a lab technologist or sonographer?
That is not part of the work of a lab technician.
What is your educational qualification?
My educational background is that I studied Language Education
Which school?
Let’s leave that
The public wants to know?
(After a long pause and persuasion, he continues) I attended the old Ondo state College of Education, which is now in Ikere Ekiti. I took to this practice since 20 years ago and we have a regulatory school in Lagos state founded by Lateef Jakande. We also have a board that regulates the activities of traditional medicine practitioners.
Which state are you from?
I am from Ondo state and married from Ekiti. I am here to make clarification. I am not here on a media war, just to state my own side of the story.