Heart-Breaking Story Of How Hoodlums Did To A Lady On Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway

On the 28th of August, 2016, around 10 pm at Pako Bus Stop, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, 23-year-old Judith (not real name) survived one of the worst sexual attacks in Lagos in recent times.

Punch learnt that Judith was raped by two men who forced her to take Indian hemp three times before taking turns to brutally rape her and she is right now recuperating with heavy dosage of antibiotics because of the attack.

According to reports gathered from Judith’s aunty, a trader in the area, Judith had come to her stall around 9pm that day to collect some money.

”I told her to wait so we could pack up together later in the evening. She did. But around 9.30pm when I was still not ready, she said she would go home. She had been sick, so, I thought it was better.

”Some minutes after 10pm, I packed up and left,” the woman said.

When she got home, she was shocked to hear Judith had not been seen since she left the shop. The family quickly began a search for her in the neighborhood.

Also, her two brothers took to the streets in the area to search for her. Fortunately, she was found on the street.

One of her brothers explained that when he found his sister, he could not believe his eyes.

“Her slippers were all torn, the dress she was wearing was heavy with blood. She was unsteady on her feet. She could hardly stand up,” he said.

A picture of Judith taken soon after she was found showed the ivory-coloured skirt she was wearing blotted with large patches of blood behind and in front

Her brother added that when he became frantic and started asking what happened to her, she could hardly talk.

”She said some men raped her. Two men now came out of the front of the house where I found her. One asked me what I was shouting about. He said, ‘Because she was raped, is that why you will not let people ‘hear word’? Is she the first person that will be raped here?’ After all, I gave her Igbo (hemp) and she took it.’

”I was shocked. I could not believe that he had the confidence to tell me he was even the one who gave her Indian hemp.

”My sister said they forced her to take the Indian hemp and two of them raped her on a chair in front of a shop.”

Narrating the horrific incident, the victim told her family that the men grabbed her as she crossed the expressway on her way home and when they covered her mouth and dragged her to house number 106, which faces the expressway, they took her inside and forced her to take Indian hemp three times before raping her.

The two evil men, who allegedly raped her were later identified as Wasiu and Monaco, the names they are popularly known by on the street, while the man who boasted of being the one who gave her the Indian hemp was identified as Olanrewaju Osinubi.

The two men are currently on the run.

Judith’s brother explained that while he argued with the two men, who initially came out, other men came out of the house and joined them, threatening that if he did not leave with his sister, he would be beaten up.

”While we were arguing there, I luckily saw a patrol van of policemen from the Dopemu Police Division passing by and I quickly approached them and explained how my sister was raped.

”The policemen came down from their vehicle and because the crowd of boys in front of the house were threatening, one of the policemen cocked his gun and they all fled.

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”But, I immediately grabbed the one who said he gave her Indian hemp to smoke (Osinubi) before he could escape. The police took him and we all went to the station.”

While at the station, it was learnt that Judith continued to bleed heavily as everywhere she sat was soaked with blood.

The police asked the family to take her to the Mirabel Sexual Assault Referral Centre for treatment that night. But by the time they got there around 12.30am, the centre was close.

But officials at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, where the centre is located, referred them to the Ifako General Hospital, where sexual assault cases are also treated.

After the initial treatment there, Judith was again referred to the Mirabel Centre the following day where she was eventually given comprehensive treatment.

It is unclear whether the centre has sent the report of tests conducted on Judith back to the police as is usually the practice.

However, an activist, Mrs. Esther Ogwu of the Esther Child Rights Foundation, whom the family has approached for help on the matter, said has notified the Sexual Assault department of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice about the case.

”We expect that an urgent step would now be taken on this matter.  This is not a case that  the police should even think of sweeping under the carpet.

”This case is not just about her, it is about other young women and girls who are in danger as long as those men are still on the loose. But I do not think the police have realized how terrible it must be for the victim that she may not get justice,” she said.

Photo credit: Punch