Blessing Isanbor still in hospital; needs help

 

Corporal Emmanuel Okujo shot to kill me, even though my sister is pregnant for him and will have children for him, the law should run its full course.” With those words, Blessing Isanbor, 19, who is still writhing in pains at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja painted the picture of the kind of relationship that will exist between her and police corporal Emmanuel Okujo, who shot her on the cheek and hand on February 10, and eloped with her 17 year old younger sister, Patience, now pregnant for him.

Blessing has spent about three months in the hospital, with her cheekbones and some of her left fingers
damaged after she was shot in her parents house in Bariga area of Lagos by Corporal Okujo. She would
undergo plastic surgery to fix the bone and to give her a passable-looking-face, the cost of which her mother, a widow, Mrs. Ikuje Isanbor cannot afford.

If you missed it, you can read it below

Policeman shoots lover in the face, kidnaps sister

Culled from Entertainment Express

Residents of Bariga, a high-density suburb of Lagos, recently woke up  to a shocking incident which at first looked like another case of police brutality but later turned out to be a bad case of love-gone-sour situation involving a Lagos policeman, Corporal Emmanuel Okujo, who shot his former girlfriend in the face with his service pistol. The trigger-happy man took his ‘bad cop role’ further by kidnapping his victim’s younger sister and disappeared with her as a hostage.

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The horrible incident happened on February 17, 2012, when the heartless lover boy attached to Ifako Police Division, Lagos, stormed the one-room apartment occupied by the two sisters, Blessing Isabor, 22, and Patience Isabor, 18, at No. 12 Ifateludo Street, Bariga, Lagos, at about 7:30 a.m., brandishing a pistol and seething with murderous rage. Within 30 minutes, the dastard deed was done. What started as a threat from the officer of law culminated in a grim conclusion with him pumping bullets directly into Blessing’s face, thereby inflicting grave injuries on her once pretty face, after which he fled the crime scene with Patience to an unknown destination.

The circumstance surrounding the bizarre act is yet to be fully unraveled. An eye witness to the evil act, Grace Igbagbon, cousin to the Isabor sisters who also lives in the same compound with them, narrated the plot of the sad episode: “I was in my room when my son ran in and told me that he saw the police officer pointing a gun at Blessing. Fear gripped me immediately and I ran into the girls’ room. I was shocked when I got there and beheld Okujo (the policeman) with his pistol drawn, threatening to shoot my cousins. He was pointing the gun at Blessing, but it was the two sisters who were both crying and begging him not to shoot them. I also joined them in begging him not to shoot them, no matter what they have done to him. Instead of listening to my pleas, he ordered me to leave or else he would shoot me as well. I ran out and raised an alarm. By the time I returned, he had shot Blessing and disappeared with Patience.”

On what she knew about the now at large policeman, Igbagbon, tearful and a bit hysterical, testified: “He used to come here to eat (pointing at a nearby canteen where she sells food), wearing his uniform most times.  I also know that he was very close to my sisters. Sometimes he would just come and go to their room directly”.
This poignant tale of “a cop’s blood-curdling cruelty” is complicated by an element of love triangle. A close friend of the hapless sisters provided an illuminating angle. The girl whose name is Oluchi avowed that the on-the-run policeman had over the past eight months been involved in an intimate affair with Blessing until recently when he suddenly switched his affection to her younger sister, Patience. Her words: “all I know is that the police officer dated Blessing for some months but suddenly switching over to Patience. We were all wondering how a responsible man could stoop so low as to have affairs with two blood sisters within a time frame of about eight months. He is just wicked because I know he was sleeping with the two of them”.
Another close friend of the two sisters, who preferred anonymity, also corroborated the story. She averred: “The Police officer after dating Blessing for some months abandoned her and started going out with her younger sister. He said he saw Blessing with another man. But must he because of that start ‘friending’ her younger sister? I am still wondering how Patience decided to start going out with a man that has already dated her elder sister. Maybe it’s because of the gifts he used to bring to her.”

According to information exclusive to Sunday Express, police officers from Ifako Police division had gone to Okujo’s Obalende resident as soon as the incident was reported. Their visit, however, only uncovered troubling evidence. “They discovered the policeman’s cloth and that of Patience, both bloodstained. We don’t know what he must have done to Patience; we don’t know where she is now,” a family member confirmed.
Since that ill-fated Friday two weeks ago, family and relatives of the hapless sisters have been thrown into emotional turmoil. Gravely-wounded Blessing is currently hanging between life and death at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja. According to doctors, the embattled young lady has a fighting chance to live, but at the cost of series of surgeries. This again presents another problem for the family. “We don’t even know where the money would come from because the family is poor”, Igbagbon said in tears.   It is double trauma for the beleaguered Isabor family, who apart from battling to save the life of one of their daughters, is also engaged in a harrowing effort of searching for the other abducted sister, not knowing if she would turn up dead or alive.

According to the grief-stricken woman, the two sisters, both secondary school leavers and natives of Edo state, lived in a one-room apartment with their mother who works as a nanny and rarely returns home due to the demanding nature of her work. “Their father is late, that is why they came down to Lagos two years ago immediately after their secondary school education to live with their mother and also secure a job. Now, the worst has happened; we don’t know where to start from.” She concluded her lamentations with a desperate plea to the public: “We need help from the public to treat the battered young girl and bring her back to life, Blessing must not die.”

Meanwhile, the case has been reported to the Lagos State Police Command and investigation is on-going to ascertain the whereabouts of the officer and the 18-year-old girl he took hostage. When contacted via phone, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP. Jaiyeoba Joseph, offered an insight: “The police is aware of the incident and has swung into action. The younger sister is the one he was going out with and both of them are currently at large.”

Pregnant woman dies two days after husband’s brutality

Monday, June 18, 2012

A pregnant woman, Mrs. Funmilayo Ajibola, died last Wednesday in Badagry, Lagos State after being allegedly brutalised by her husband, Kola. The 30-year-old housewife had been a victim of domestic abuse for years before she died on the fateful day.


Funmilayo’s cousin, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said Kola, a member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, was a jealous husband who always suspected his wife’s movements.


She said, “Kola is a very jealous husband. My cousin changed her phone lines more than 15 times throughout their six years marriage lasted because anytime Kola saw a strange number on her phone, he would destroy the SIM card.

“Sometimes, if she came back late or went out, he would beat her. There was a time she visited her father and when she got back home late, Kola told her to pick between him and her father.
“According to a young girl that lives with the couple, on Sunday night, Funmilayo received a call from her maternal uncle and when Kola saw the number, he started beating her. He did not even listen to her explanation.”

The cousin said when the beating got out of hand, the landlord intervened and took Funmilayo to his flat.
The landlord was said to have told Funmilayo to go back to her husband’s apartment believing that his anger would have subsided but Kola was said to have continued to beat her.

PUNCH Metro learnt that although the deceased did not die after the beating, she started exhibiting strange symptoms before her death.

Her cousin said, “Although I wasn’t there, the young girl that lives with them told me that Funmilayo was unconscious for a while, making Kola to become scared.
“Kola rushed her to a nearby hospital where she started to vomit blood. The hospital refused to admit her because they owed the hospital some money.

“Kola then took her back to the house and invited an auxiliary nurse to come and attend to her but her health continued to deteriorate.”
The nurse was said to have given the deceased some injections and bags of drip.
“The young girl that lives with them told me that on Tuesday, Funmilayo ate some rice but vomited it soon after. When her health did not improve, the nurse told Kola that she could no longer locate her vein,” our source said.

It was learnt that when Funmilayo died on Wednesday, Kola took her corpse to the Badagry General Hospital mortuary and told the attendant that his wife died of pregnancy complications.
He was said to have promised to return but later fled. Our correspondent learnt that neighbours immediately informed members of Funmilayo’s family who then came to 5, Ilufe Street, Ibereko Bus Stop, Badagry where the couple resided.

It was learnt that when all efforts to trace Kola failed, his younger brother, was arrested by policemen attached to Badagry Police Division.

At the station, Kola’s brother revealed his location and policemen immediately arrested him.
A police source told our correspondent that the 33-year-old suspect admitted beating his wife.
“I am not a doctor but there were bruises on the corpse and there is no doubt that Kola beat her up and he has confessed. He however said he did not kill her,” he said.

Funmilayo’s  cousin however berated the police on how the investigations were being handled.
She said, “Kola has been beating Funmilayo for a long time to the extent that the landlord had issued them a quit notice for fear that he might kill her.

“Police should have invited the landlord for questioning as well as the nurse that was treating Funmilayo. Also, the case should have been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department by now,” she said.
When contacted the spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide, said the command would ensure that a thorough investigation was carried out.

She said, “Investigation will be done professionally. The Badagry Division has to conclude preliminary investigations before transferring the case to the SCID.
“Also, Kola will be charged with murder because all evidence points to him. It’s a clear case and there will be no cover up.

“We are waiting for approval from a magistrate court before going ahead with the autopsy and once all things are in order, he’ll be charged to court.”

Culled from Punch 

Nanny watched as 5yr old girl was raped at Bolingo Hotel, mom alleges

The rape of a five-year-old girl is generating the interest of the attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Muhammed Bello Adoke (SAN), who on Wednesday applied to a Wuse Magistrate Court to take charge of its prosecution from the Police.

The 5 year old girl was allegedly raped at Bolingo Hotel by a certain Godwin Okon, a cleaner in the hotel.


Mr. Ejike Orji, a lawyer from the AGF’s chambers, made an oral application to the court to convey the AGF’s interest in taking over the matter because it involved a foreign citizen.
 However, counsel to the accused, Suleiman Usman, opposed the application, arguing that the AGF could not takeover a criminal case without the fiat of an attorney general of the state, taking Abuja to possess the status of a state.

After both sides had been heard, Magistrate Folashade Oyekan fixed Monday 25th June for counsel’s submission of written addresses on the propriety of the AGF’s desire.

Mother of the rape victim, Queen Moses Idris, had reported the matter to the Canadian High Commission in Nigeria, citing weakness of Police prosecution. But she was advised to first exhaust all internal mechanisms before inviting the Commission.

She consequently sought the intervention of the AGF, who instructed a lawyer in his chambers to follow the case up.

 In a letter to the AGF, she accused the Police, particularly the IPO of deliberately frustrating the matter by not turning up in court. The house help, Miss. Bright, who was in custody of the minor at the time of the rape, has since been apprehended by the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP).

According to Idris, her daughter is currently receiving treatment at Kings Care Hospital Abuja, after contracting Sexually Transmitted Virus (STV) from 35-year-old Okon. She said her daughter, who was unable to eat, drink or excrete for more than a week, is suffering from “Yielded profubed staph spotter Utlus” and “mellonotigreen mecid discharge” on her vulva.

“We logged into Bolingo Hotel in Abuja on 11th March 2012. Two weeks later, I secured a 28-year-old house help called Bright, through an agency; and on 8th May, my daughter was sexually molested. I will say rape because it has to do with oral sex,” she said.

“The 35-year-old Godwin Okon, who works as a house cleaner in the hotel, connived with my house help and did anal sex with my daughter. This man is a professional because at the end of the day nothing happened at the front (vagina). He penetrated my daughter through the anus and gave her his manhood for sucking. The house help, being an accomplice, told my daughter that ‘If you tell your mum, she will spank you,’ so my daughter became scared and she didn’t tell me about the first incident.”

Continuing, she said. “The same thing repeated itself more severely on Friday, the 11th, at about 8pm, when Okon was not working. As a cleaner, he was done with his job by 3pm. But by 8pm, Eliana said the house help invited Okon again to the room, and the same thing happened.

“This time around, my house help, Bright was sitting in the room, pretending to be watching African Magic while Okon sat, zipped down, brought out his manhood and told my daughter to sit. While my daughter was sitting on his lap, he tried to penetrate with his dick. When she felt the sharp pain at her bombom like she calls it, she jumped out and cried and said ‘Aunty bright, are you not seeing what Mr. Okon is trying to do?’ Bright repeated that ‘if you say anything to your mummy, your mummy will beat you.’

“At that point, Okon said he was going and at that point Aunty Bright said ‘go with Mr. Okon and lock the door.’ When she tried to lock the door, Okon zipped down again, brought his manhood and told my daughter to masturbate it, and told my daughter that it doesn’t hurt, that it is very soft. While he was doing that, he put his manhood in my daughter’s mouth and said ‘suck it like orange’ and she said, ‘while it was in my mouth mummy, I later felt some yacky stuff in my mouth, so at that point, he released.’ My daughter said it is ‘very yacky and she ran away, opened the door and left.”

Meanwhile, THEWILL can report that the management of Bolingo had in the past few weeks spent huge sums to compromise the case at the local police post where it was first reported.  They also moved to lobby local media houses not to report the incident.

Having failed in their effort to get the media out of the story, management has cooked up a denial saying the infant’s mother owes them over a million naira in unpaid bills adding that she came up with the rape story after she was written to pay up.

Source TheWillNigeria 

Woman attempts to kill herself & her fiancé for calling their wedding off

A 34-year old woman, Bukola Abiwa (pictured above), has been arrested by the police and arraigned before Ejigbo Magistrate’s Court, Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria, for allegedly attempting to kill herself and her fiance, Sunday Onayiga, with a knife. She is now in prison custody at Kirikiri, Lagos, for attempted murder.

She decided to kill herself and her fiancee after she was told by her fiance to pack out of their house at 3, Bassey Street, Orelope area of Egbeda, Lagos, where they have lived for over two years. The angry woman insisted that he must marry her because he promised to marry her two years ago.


The Ondo State-born woman expressed her frustration when Sunday broke the news to her that he was no longer interested in the marriage. She reportedly hit his head on a wall and took a kitchen knife and pursued Sunday to the Police Station at Idimu to kill him. The police arrested her and charged her to court for attempted murder and conduct likely to cause breach of public peace.

The embittered woman lamented at the open court that he has used her for two years and now wanted to dump her for another woman.

She is facing a two-count charge of assault and conduct likely to breach public peace. Narrating her ordeal, Sunday said he met her at Ikotun area and told her that he loved her and wanted to marry her.

He said before he met her, she was living on her own and he asked her to come and live with him and promised to meet her parents.

Bukola  said that she started living with him as his wife not knowing he had another thing in his mind.

She said that she was shocked when Sunday told her that he no longer loved her and that the marriage had been cancelled.

Sunday told P.M.NEWS that he decided to quit because she was troublesome and could not manage her as wife. Bukola was later charged to court for the offence. She pleaded not guilty and the presiding Magistrate, Mrs. M. B. Folami granted her bail in the sum of N250, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

She was remanded in prison custody at Kirikiri,  Lagos, because she could not meet her bail conditions.

Culled from PM News 

53 year man gets 1 year jail term for sexually assaulting 9yr old girl

The Federal High Court in Kano has sentenced one Ado Danjuma, 53, to three years imprisonment for abducting a nine-year-old girl and sexually molesting her.

The prosecution counsel, Aondona Orti, told the court that the convict had on February 2, 2011, lured the victim to a shop where he worked as a security man. "He inserted his finger into the private part of the nine-year old girl, touched her buttocks and later asked her to go," said Orti.

He said the police arrested the convict at his duty post after the girl went home and narrated what happened to her parents.

When the charge was read to Danjuma, he pleaded guilty and asked for leniency as he had five children and a pregnant wife.

The trial judge, Justice Shehu Yahaya, sentenced him to two years imprisonment without the option of a fine on first count of taking custody of the girl without the consent of her lawful guardians; and also sentenced him to one year imprisonment for having carnal knowledge of the girl contrary to the Trafficking in Persons Act 2003.

The two sentences will run concurrently.

-Culled from Dailytimes

WOMAN KILLS LOVER-BOY PASTOR IN RIVERS

Port Harcourt : Nigeria | Jun 11, 2012 at 3:05 PM PDT

BY AkanimoReports 

THE police in Rivers State, Southern Nigeria, are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a lover-boy pastor in the state.

A roving correspondent of AkanimoReports, Effiong Ene, on Monday reports that the village of Rumuchein in Emohoa Local Government Area of the state on Sunday, woke up to a shocking news of the death of Israel Georgewil, a resident pastor with the Cherubim and Seraphim, in the community.

An eye-witness said the deceased was the only child of his living mother. He was the founder of the church in the community which has been in existence for barely three years.

Until his death, he was alleged to be in a robust love relationship with a woman popularly known as Onyema, a divorcee and a mother of four.

The mother of four, according to an elderly woman who did not want her name in print, procured some substances said to be ''love portion'' that will enable her have deceased under her control alone.

But the ''love portion'' resulted in the death of the pastor on Saturday night after several bouts of sex.

When the pastor allegedly passed on, the lover-mother of four took to her heels. But a vigilant community youth who saw the speed with which she took-off, sneaked to the scene, only to behold a lifeless pastor.

Shocked, the community youth raised an alarm which attracted elders of the area. A hot chase for the run-away lover-woman, found her at the home of a female diviner who allegedly gave her the killer love portion.

A swift intervention from the police in the area, and re-inforcement from the Swift Operation Squad (SOS), a special security outfit saved the Ikwerre community from being engulfed in violent clashes.

Meanwhile, the house of the female diviner has been razed down by angry youths. ENDS

Battered Mrs K-Solo

Mrs Kikelomo Oyeniyi claimed in an interview this week that her husband of just six months, top music producer, K-Solo, battered her through out their short-lived marriage..to the extent she lost her pregnancy (If you missed it, read it HERE). Now, we have photos to back up some of her claims. More when you continue...

 

 

Culled: http://lindaikeji.blogspot.com/2012/06/photos-battered-mrs-k-solo.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

62-year-old grandpa remanded for raping girl, 10

JUNE 7, 2012 BY AGENCY REPORTER 62 COMMENTS

For allegedly raping a 10-year-old girl (name withheld), a 62-year-old, Mr. John Osunade, has been remanded in prison custody by an Osogbo Magistrate’s Court.

The charge sheet read in court on Tuesday accused Osunade of perpetrating the act on May 27, 2012, at his residence in Tonkere village, Gbongan town in Ayedaade Local Government Area, Osun State.

When his plea was taken, the accused pleaded not guilty to the one-count of rape.

Police prosecutor, Inspector Elisha Olusegun, said the offence was punishable under Section 218 of the Criminal Code, Cap 34, Volume II, Laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2003.

Defence prosecutor, Mr. Reginald Ngwu, urged the court to admit the accused to bail, adding that Osunade remained innocent until the contrary was proved in court.

Ngwu, who said Osunade was ready to face trial, added that the accused would provide reliable sureties if granted bail.

But the Magistrate, Mr. Olusola Aluko, ordered the accused to be remanded in custody, adding that the court would entertain Osunade’s bail application in written form and not in oral.

Aluko adjourned the case until Wednesday, July 4, 2012, for mention.

Culled: http://www.punchng.com/metro/62-year-old-grandpa-remanded-for-raping-girl-10/

Idowu Aliyu, female student killed by a cannibal

The suspect, Jimoh Obabu Salau and Idowu Aliyu, the slain girl

On May 2, when Idowu Aliyu decided to embark on a trip from her town, Egayi back to Zamfara where she’s studying in the School of Health Technology, little did she know that will be the last time she would see her family. Apparently, she would have bade them goodbye with smiles on her face but fate lurked in the dark .The day was not only full of evil but she ended up being a victim of the evil.




On every other day that Idowu went to school, she was always dropped at the garage by one of her brothers but on this particular day, the brother was busy and Idowu was in a hurry and couldn’t wait for her brother to return from his busy schedule to drop her at the park as earlier agreed. Even the persuasion of her Uncle who is their custodian to tarry for a while for her brother to come back fell on deaf ears. Idowu was just in hurry.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that the late Idowu got an okada to convey her to the park which was driven by Jimoh Obabu Salau. But unknown to her, Jimoh was an okada man with an ulterior motive.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that midway through the journey, Jimoh Obabu drove into the bush where he took his time to kill her. To achieve his aim, it was gathered Jimoh smashed a stone against the innocent victim and subsequently ensured she breathed her last.

Idowu would have gone to the world unknown without people knowing what killed her but providence presented a farmer who was watching from a close distance where Jimoh had taken the victim for the act. The farmer quickly mobilised people to the place where Jimoh was caught trying to bury the victim. He was apprehended and handed over to the police.

Jimoh confessed being responsible for the death of the 22-year old Idowu but the confession is causing a lot of controversy. Jimoh specialises in using okada to lure victims to the bush where he kills them for meat and sell the remaining part to ritualists.

The police are of the view that Idowu’s death is not only for meat but has a ritual angle to it. Parading the suspect, the state commissioner of Police, Muhammed Katsina said Jimoh Obabu Salau was arrested while trying to bury his victim, Idowu Aliyu, a student of School of Health Technology, Zamfara, aged 22 years.

Kastina revealed that “the suspect was dismissed from the Army while on ECOMOG duties in Liberia after showing cannibalistic behaviour. He was also arrested and sentenced to death in 2003 for killing his wife and two kids; eating their intestine and selling the remaining parts. The suspect was however released from Kaduna prison through the aid of influential, wealthy and highly connected individuals.”

Ever since this revelation , the whole state has been clouded in suspense. While some believe that Jimoh is only looking for ‘meat’, others believe that a popular politician who is seeking election is Jimoh’s sponsor. Those who are alleging political undertones to the murder of Idowu by Jimoh hinged it on the fact that Jimoh had been very close to the politician who is among the top contenders for the SSG office since it was zoned to the area.

Jimoh also appears to be complicating the matter. While not arguing that he is guilty, he is said to be singing a new song. Jimoh, Saturday Vanguard gathered, allegedly claimed the victim was brought to him to kill by two other men from the town rather than the popular assumption that he picked her with his okada. Jimoh has since mentioned more than six names of those who ‘brought’ the lady to him.

Police investigations revealed that the first two persons Jimoh mentioned their names were innocent. When further prompted, Jimoh allegedly mentioned other names which the police discovered were unconnected to the act as well. As at the last count, Jimoh who is now behaving abnormal has implicated eight people as his accomplices in the alleged murder.

Presently, police are in a tight corner over how to unravel the truth behind Idowu’s death. Is it a political or ritual killing or Jimoh’s way of feeding his cannibalistic appetite?

However, the family of late Idowu Aliyu is now calling for justice. They are calling on the federal government and police to ensure that the killer of their daughter did not go unpunished. Head of the family, Mr Aliyu Onuto, who spoke with Saturday Vanguard in his compound in Egayi, Ajaokuta said late Idowu was killed on her way to board a vehicle to Zamfara state where she was schooling.

Mr. Aliyu noted with dismay that although the suspect has been arrested and he has confessed to committing the crime, he is yet to be charged to court for prosecution. “Idowu had dreams but could not live to actualise her dreams due to blood thirsty Jimoh. I understand he killed his wife (a police officer) in 2003 and was let off the hook without punishment. If justice had prevailed that time, this would not have happened. “Today it is Idowu, tomorrow it might be another person. All that we want is for justice to be done,” he said.

Mr. Aliyu, the uncle of the slain victim who revealed that the late Idowu and her siblings lost their parents recently and that he has suffered to take care of her along with her younger siblings wondered why Jimoh could take the life of his innocent niece who was promising and looked as if she would aid the family after graduation.

The state police command is however saying the delay in prosecuting Jimoh Salau is due to the fact that they believed he must have accomplices who buy some of the human parts from him as he could not have been alone in the crime.

The state Police Commissioner, Mohammed Katsina said the cannibal who was dismissed from the Army usually eats the inside of his victims and sells the other parts to ritualists and “so, the command is still investigating to get those buying the human parts from him”.

Culled from Vanguard 

Man cancels wedding after wife-to-be is gang raped 3 weeks to their wedding

    The victim Ms Eneh                       Alleged rapists: Benson and Ismaili

For 25-year old woman Miss Eneh, her memorable day in life would probably the day she was gang-raped by three men who live with her in the same area three weeks to her wedding.

 

Her predicament after the incident took a pitiable dimension as her fiancée because of the alleged rape called off their wedding plans, saying he cannot marry her again. The victim met her saddest moment at a popular guesthouse in Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos.

 

 

Narrating her ordeal, the visibly angry lady lamented that she has lost her fiancé who has now cancelled the wedding and told her that he was no longer interested in the relationship. Explaining further, Eneh said Efe, one of the rapists left after several attempts to woo her failed and she did not suspect he was planning any bad thing against her.

She disclosed that she was going home last week when Efe, who was sitting in front of the guest housenear her house called her and she went to answer him, unknown to her he had planned to rape her. She further alleged that while she was resisting him, Benson and Ismali surfaced and threatened to kill her if she resisted and raised any alarm.

 

She became helpless and because of the threat she obeyed them and they took turns to rape her. The matter was reported to the police and the two suspects were arrested while Efe escaped.

 

Meanwhile, the police in Ikotun division have arrested two of the suspects identified as Benson and Ismali while Efe Oguntuwase who allegedly masterminded it and involving two of his friends escaped.

 

They are now facing charges for the alleged conspiracy and rape at Ejigbo Magistrate’s court, Lagos. The police brought Benson and Ismali to be arraigned before the presiding Magistrate, Mrs M B Folami who ordered the police to take them back to the station and bring them back the next day.

 

Source: Sun News Online

Masquerade rapes undergraduate nursing mother

                                                  The victim, Ngozi Ugwu.                                 The masquerade

Tension mounts in Opi, Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State as masquerades took turn in the series of rape stories synonymous with the community.  The alleged rape of a female student, Ngozika Ugwu, presented mixed feelings and reactions to what may have bedevilled the community in the recent past.
Rape stories in Opi, a community in the university town of Nsukka, have occupied major national dailies, hitting banner headlines, from the three quarters that make up the community, Idi, Ogbozalla and Ibeku.
In 2011, the story of the rape of women between 70 and 80 years spread like wild fire in the country, raising eyebrows on the motive for such inhuman and barbaric act by, especially, youths of the community. Some of them  were fingered and allegedly arrested, interrogated by the police but could not be persecuted because of want of  evidence.


Following this development, Ada Enugu Women Organisation led by  Mrs. Kate Ezeofor stormed the community for a church service at St. Charles Catholic Church parish, Opi to cleanse the land and the old women that were defiled.

Few months later, Opi women took to the streets in protest of yet another rape at Ogbozalla–Opi. The protest attracted the quick intervention of the Chairman, Nsukka Local Government Council, Mr. Tony Ugwu who invited all the stakeholders in the community to discuss the ugly development and proffer solutions. Though it was later discovered that the protest had political undertone, the council boss brokered peace to the satisfaction of all.

Barely few months of enjoying peace in the area, masquerades took turn in the series of rape stories in the community by defiling a 28-year-old undergraduate nursing mother.  The victim told Crime Alert in tears that the trauma of the rape will forever live with her but stated that she had forgiven the rapists.

While narrating her ordeal, she appealed to local, state and federal governments to ensure that truth prevails in this country by fighting for the poor masses.  Ngozi, who dropped out from her NCE programme at the Enugu State College of Education (Technical)due to lack of funds after her ordeal, called on concerned Nigerians to come to her aid to enable her go back to school.

She also hinted that the release of one of the suspects on the flimsy excuse that he was going to write his JAMB examination was not encouraging, attributing it to the fact that her family is poor and helpless.

Her story:
It happened on March 21, 2012. There were three masquerades that day but two were spotted and people started running. I was going to fetch water and as people were running, I equally ran and hid somewhere until the two masquerades passed. After the masquerades passed, I came out and continued with my journey. Soon, I heard a child saying that another masquerade was coming. I didn’t see the masquerade but people were running and I ran to enter into someone’s house.

The masquerade emerged from a corner (apiam way) and pushed me into the building where I was running to. I tried to escape but could not. It caught up with me and started beating me. What surprised me was that the masquerade said it has been looking for me for long and had now caught up with me. I sought to know what I did to deserve such treatment and at the same time pleading for forgiveness but it continued with its threat.
This time, it swore to take me to a bigger masquerade inside the forest, saying it has been long I had been insulting them. My cries for help and that I was a nursing a baby fell on deaf ears. As the masquerade was dragging me along, a man with wrapper came and pleaded with the masquerade to leave me but it refused, saying that I have insulted them for too long. It insisted on taking me to the bigger masquerade which will compel my clan to bring a cow as sacrifice.
All my pleadings with the man who came to my rescue failed. The masquerade dragged me to a bush path,threw me on the ground fell on me. It held me on the neck to prevent me from shouting and blocked both my eyes and nose.  At this stage, I nearly lost consciousness until one man came and rescued me from its grip. He removed the face of the masquerade and that was how he was identified. As soon as he was identified, he ran away.
More people gathered there and helped to take me where I was given first aid treatment at a chemist before I was taken to St. Joseph Hospital, Opi. I didn’t know when I was taken to the hospital. When I started gaining consciousness, I did not see my pant and my bra was torn. It was then I realised that the masquerade raped me. Fear gripped me that the masquerade may have transmitted HIV/AIDS into me.
Doctor’s report altered
We went to Nsukka police station and reported the incident. I was surprised that police did not come to the scene of the incident to investigate my claims. What the police did was to take me to a police doctor, Mercy Clinic along University Market Road, Nsukka. It is surprising that a doctor will give evidence against me in a case of rape I reported. Later, police invited me to their office for interrogation.


When I tried to give details of what happened, they shouted that I should shut up and go straight to speak on the doctor’s findings on the case. Surprisingly, the Police asked me to write a letter of apology claiming that the doctor’s report said I was not raped. I did not read the report nor see it. I was forced to write an apology by the police.
While all these were happening, no police officer came to the hospital to take my statement. All the time, nurses would remove drips from my hand so that I would go to the police station to honour their invitation. The masquerade was allegedly arrested and hurriedly released on the flimsy excuse that he was going to write JAMB exams.
Pleas for forgiveness
While I was still recuperating, the mother of the suspected person in the masquerade came and pleaded that his son should be forgiven.  I told his mother that I have forgiven him. What annoyed me most was that some of his relations which included a policeman that works in Enugu, returned home and instead of sympathizing with me, they took sides in favor of their brother.  At a stage, I was forced to go to the police station to close the case.
No refund of expenditure
The police said that I should not be paid what my family spent in the case and that the family of the suspect should only pay for my hospital bill. The rapist family paid the hospital bill grudgingly.  Later, the police invited us again and this time, they asked me to write that I was not raped and I was forced to write that I was not raped. The boy who raped me gave police his name as Asogwa Ifeanyi but people who knew him said, his real names are Ugwunshi Ifeanyi.
The police did not also make efforts to invite the witness in the case while the investigation was going on rather, after they concluded that I was not raped, they tried to invite him but he ignored them.
My Education
I dropped out from Enugu state college of education (Technical) due to lack of fund. I was a second year student when I dropped. I entered the tertiary institution in 2007/2008 session.  For now, it is very difficult to continue with my education after all I have gone through. My father is a mason (Brick layer) at Uzo-Uwani L.G.A, Enugu State. We are five children born to my father and mother.
I am the only daughter.
Police reacts when Crime Alert visited Nsukka Police station, it was gathered that the incumbent Divisional police officer had not assumed office when the matter was incidented but a senior police officer who pleaded anonymity disclosed that a case of assault, occasioning harm was reported at the station but not rape as claimed by the lady stating that the people of the area are very troublesome. “Any small thing in the area, they will term it rape and rush to the press. You can trace the lady to Opi and find out  from her, all that was reported is a case of assault occasioning harm.”
Police Doctor speaks
The police doctor, Dr. Ugwu who reportedly examined Ngozika told Crime Alert that he can’t remember such a matter any longer. “I meet different cases and patients on daily basis. Give me sometime to get across to the police to find out the very incident”.
Elders action
Investigations by Crime Alert revealed that the elders in the community, on hearing the rape story, took action by banning masquerades from operating in the area regretting that youths cashed on masquerade which are meant for entertainment to perpetuate all sorts of evil, painting the community in a bad public image. They also reportedly resolved that the family of the masquerade rapist must bring a cow to cleanse the land, or else they will be ostracized.

Culled from Vanguard