raped by six gun-wielding men in the Somolu
area of Lagos State. PUNCH Metro learnt that
the victim, Blessing (not real name), was
returning from a visit to an uncle's house at
about 8pm on Saturday when she was attacked
by the hoodlums, suspected to be cultists, on
Olaosebikan Street, Bajulaiye, in the Somolu
area. Tthe teenager, who was with the
suspected rapists for about four hours, was
threatened with a gun to "cooperate" with her
assailants. It was learnt that Blessing was taken
for medical treatment at the Mirabel Centre,
Ikeja, after which the matter was reported at
the Alade Police Division. It was, however,
gathered that the suspected rapists fled the area
before the police could arrest them.
When PUNCH Metro visited Blessing in her
parents' house, the victim, who worked as a
computer operator, said the men raped her
after they had accused her of being a lover to a
member of a rival cult group. Blessing, who said
she had been asked out by some of the
suspected rapists on several occasions without
positive response from her, added that they
took advantage of the fact that the area was
deserted on Saturday.
She said:
"It was at about 8pm on Saturday. I was
returning from a visit when the guys
surrounded me around Olaosebikan Street.
They carried me into an apartment called
Elewure's House around Bajulaiye
Compound. "They forced me into a room in the
house and took turns to rape me. They were six
in number, but I know five of them. They are
Raheem, Oriyomi, Sulaimon, Dudu, Orobo and
Ronaldo. As each of them raped me, one of
them pressed a gun against me, saying if I did
not cooperate, they would kill me. "I was with
them till around 12am. Two of them walked me
to a street near where I lived. I was tired. "On
the second day, I went to the Alade Police
Division to make a report, and I was also taken
to the Mirabel Centre in Ikeja for medical
treatment. "The hoodlums claimed that I was
dating a cultist. They said they had asked me
several times to date them but I refused. They
said they would teach me a lesson. I want the
police to arrest these men. I cannot go to work
for now."
When Punch visited Olaosebikan Street, it was
gathered that one of the six hoodlums, known
as Makayoko, returned from the Kirikiri Prison
last year after serving an eight-year jail term for
violence.
A security official in the area, who identified
himself only as Comrade, told PUNCH Metro that
the Elewure boys belonged to the Eiye cult
group. He added that each of them had a gun
and robbed passersby, especially women, in the
evenings.
He said:
"There was an uncompleted building on
Olaosebikan Street where they used to hide
their weapons, and take women to rape them.
Later, when the house was completed, they
started using the Elewure's House. They also
terrorise Olatunde, Humani and Akinrinlo
streets. "On Tuesday, the Divisional Police
Officer of Alade came to the Bajulaiye
Compound to hold a meeting with the residents
on how these hoodlums would be apprehended.
It was decided at that meeting that we would
hand them over to the police, anywhere we saw
them. One of the policemen told me that the
suspects raped the girl two rounds each. "It was
very serious. But we are going to work with the
police to get them."
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer,
DSP Joe Offor, confirmed the gang rape, adding
that the police were intensifying efforts to
apprehend the suspects. He said, "We are on
the trail of the suspects. We have not arrested
any of them for now, but we will get them."
