THISDAY

Police Investigat­e Irish for Deliberate­ly Infecting Girls with HIV in Lagos

- Chiemelie Ezeobi

The Lagos State Police Command has initiated an investigat­ion on the allegation by a young lady, one Helen that her boyfriend, one James Turner, an expatriate from Ireland, deliberate­ly infected her with HIV alongside two others.

The victim, a Benue State indigene, who spoke with journalist­s at the Ikeja Police Division said they met eight years ago and had a smooth relationsh­ip until January this year, when he tested positive to HIV and hid it from her.

She said, "I met James Turner eight years ago. He told me to move to his apartment. I started living with him. We were living like husband and wife.

"In January 2016, he fell ill and we went to a hospital in Ikeja, where they ran some tests for Typhoid and Malaria.

"Unknown to us, the hospital has a policy of running HIV tests. They did and apparently saw he had the virus. When the doctor asked him whether he can talk in my presence he said no, so I excused them.

"I noticed that he started taking a lot of drugs and when I asked him, he said it was for a Typhoid and Malaria.

"But when it became too much, I stole the drug name and Googled it and discovered that it was for HIV. I asked him and he denied it. He said the drug was for his knees.

"Again, I stole the number of his doctor and called him. The doctor called me over and ran a test on me and I found out I was positive too.

"My world crumbled, I fell down and started crying. I regretted ever meeting the man because the doctor took my blood sample to another hospital for confirmati­on test and the result was positive again. I was totally down even though I have no symptom of sickness.

"Well, to kill anger and boredom, I followed some of my friends to a party. He kept calling me whether I was coming home that day and I replied in the negative.

"I later changed my mind and came back that day only to catch him pants down with my best friend. I then sourced for money and moved out.

"Meanwhile, he deliberate­ly infected me with the virus because after he had known his status, he made sure he slept with me often. I attributed it to love.

"After I found out my status, he kept on taunting and humiliatin­g me on how I won't ever find a man to marry me again and that my life was over.

"He told me that I should go to hell and that he has infected many girls and that he was just beginning. He told me that I was a fool. He told me that he sent his wife home immediatel­y he tested positive to HIV.

'He told me to hang myself. He said he is over 60 and that he has lived almost his life span, but that I was still 31 and no one would marry HIV patient.

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