Two muslim students of the Lagos
State University (LASU) on Monday narrated before an Ikeja Special Offences
Court how they were robbed and raped at gunpoint by a fellow student, Afeez
Ogunbowale.
The students, who were both
wearing niqabs (Islamic garment which covers the body leaving the eyes
uncovered), in a two-hour testimony revealed to the court that they lost their
virginity in the attack.
They made the claims while
testifying as prosecuting witnesses during the trial of Ogunbowale, over
alleged robbery and rape. In his Facebook post, Ogunbowale had attended Moshood
Abiola Polytechnic Abeokuta before coming to LASU in 2017.
Led in evidence by Mrs. O.A
Bajulaiye-Bishi, the prosecuting counsel, the students, who were roommates,
told the court that they were 200 level students when the alleged rape and
robbery occurred on April 18, 2018.
The witnesses told the court that
at around 3a.m., a torch was flashed into their apartment, awakening them
suddenly and five men, including Ogunbowale, who were armed with a gun and
machetes, forced themselves in.
Student A (name withheld), 23,
told the court “they took three phones, a gold chain, earpiece, power bank and
N1, 200. Three of the men left, leaving the defendant and one other person who
I cannot identify.
“The defendant told the other guy
‘I want to sleep with these girls’. The defendant went to the toilet with my
roommate while the second man tried to rape me.
“The second man could not
penetrate me because I had an asthmatic attack and the second man left me to
swap places with the defendant.
“The defendant came and had sex
with me while I had the asthmatic attack and my roommate was screaming and
pleading for him to leave me alone and he said in pidgin English ‘if she wan
die, make she die’.
“The other three men came back
into the apartment and saw the chaos. They told the two other men that this was
not what they came here to do and they assisted in looking for my inhaler. My
inhaler was found and they all left my apartment.”
Student A told the court that
they lodged a report at the Ojo Barracks and they were referred to the Mirabel
Center for medical examination and counselling.
“The case was transferred to the
Festac Police Station, then to the Ikeja Police Station. When the defendant was
apprehended and brought to the Ikeja Police Station, he was shocked when he saw
us there.
“He went on his knees and said to
us in Yoruba ‘Alhaja please’,” Student A said.
While being cross-examined by Mr
Bisi Salau, the defence counsel, Student A said that she recognised Ogunbowale
as her assailant because she had seen him a number of times on campus.
She noted that the residence
where the alleged crime occurred belonged to her aunt.
“I was a virgin until the day
that incident occurred, I cannot remember the exact date I went to the Mirabel
Center. When I reported the incident at the Ojo Barracks, they called to inform
the Vice-Chancellor of LASU about it.
“The five men who came to our
apartment were armed with a gun and the defendant was the one who carried the
gun, he touched me with the gun.
“The defendant has a group of
friends in my class and his friend sent me a friendship request on Facebook.
“When I looked through his
friends list, I saw the defendant’s photograph which I gave to the campus
Department of State Security (DSS) official.
“I saw the defendant on campus
and alerted the campus security. He was apprehended in September 2018,” Student
A said.
Student B (name withheld),20,
while giving her testimony narrated how Ogunbowale allegedly raped her.
“The defendant took me to the
toilet and pointed a gun at my head, that day I was still a virgin and it was
difficult for him to penetrate into me. He said to me ‘you never do am before.’
“He took me to a chair and raped
me and the second man left my roommate and exchanged places with him and raped
me as well.
“After we had reported the
incident to authorities, we were examined and counselled. We had to go there
over a long period of time but we had to cut that short because of our exams.
“We could not even take some of
our medication because of our school examination,” she said.
The alleged culprit Ogunbowale
pleaded not guilty during his arraignment for five-counts of robbery and rape.
According to Bajulaiye-Bishi, the
defendant committed the offence alongside others who are now at large on April
18, 2018 at the Okokomaiko area of Lagos.
“The defendant and his
accomplices while armed with a gun, knife, machete and bottle robbed the
students of their phones, power bank, ear piece, gold chain and N1,200.
“The defendant and his accomplice
who is at large had unlawful sexual intercourse with the complainants.
“The offence contravenes Sections
260(1) and 297(2)(a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015,” she said.
Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo ordered
that Ogunbowale continue to enjoy the bail that was granted to him by Justice
Yetunde Adesanya before the case was transferred from Adesanya’s court to her
court.
She also warned the defendant
that neither he or his friends should threaten witnesses otherwise his bail
will be revoked.
“The defence counsel Mr Bisi
Salau who is from the chambers of Mr Lanre Ogunlesi, a reputable Senior
Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) has undertaken to drop his qualifying certificate to
ensure the defendant report to court,” she said.
The case was adjourned till Nov.
25 for further hearing.
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