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Tag: Rape

  • Lekki Hotel Gang-rape: Complainant seeks withdrawal of case against defendants

    Lekki Hotel Gang-rape: Complainant seeks withdrawal of case against defendants

    A 24-year-old woman (names withheld), allegedly drugged at a nightclub and gang-raped in an hotel in Lekki, Lagos, by two dropouts of Babcock University, wants the criminal suit filed against the defendants – Don-Chima George and Olusegun Razak, withdrawn.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the complainant made her request for withdrawals of the case during proceedings at an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Thursday, via a “Letter of Withdrawal”.

    The letter, dated June 3, 2019, was addressed to the Director of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP), and signed by the complainant.

    In the letter, which was read in court by Justice Abiola Soladoye, the complainant attributed her decision to seek the withdrawal of the case to “intervention of family members” and for the sake of her integrity.

    Mr Akin George, a Deputy-Director in the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) and lead state prosecutor, however, opposed the complainant’s request.

    He noted that the complainant was in court for the continuation of her cross-examination by the defence.

    “We do not have a directive from the office of the Attorney-General (AG).

    “My lord, the Honourable AG is the complainant in this case.

    “In every criminal matter, victims are naturally witnesses and as we speak, there is no AG in office due to the change in power.

    “We are also aware of the rules of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) which states that even the Court of Appeal cannot stay an ongoing proceeding.

    “Our office initiated this action in court and there has to be a closure one way or the other.

    “My lord, we have submitted issues for the respective decisions of this court.

    “We will bring the witness to state her position before the court, while we continue proceedings and await directives from the AG’s office,” George said.

    Responding, defense counsel, Mr Tunji Ayanlaja (SAN), said while he shared the views of the prosecution that Lagos State originated the criminal suit, he disagreed that the absence of the AG had created a vacuum.

    He also sought the release of the defendants from prison.

    “The constitution is so clear that when we do not have an AG in office, the Solicitor-General takes over the function of the AG. My lord, we are ready to proceed.

    “The unfortunate thing is that the defendants have been in prison ever since. The complainant, who is their (prosecution) witness, has developed cold feet for one reason or the other; this development is replete in the letter by the complainant.

    “To meet the end of justice, I apply that your lordship should consider releasing the defendants on bail.

    “At the end of the day, no compensation will be paid to them. They are young men who have languished in jail for four or five months,” Ayanlaja said.

    After listening to the submissions of the prosecution and defence, Justice Soladoye said that the court would continue with proceedings, and that bail would not be granted to the defendants because the court had already delivered a ruling denying them bail.

    “However, so that these proceedings will not be an exercise in futility, a short adjournment will be taken, pending directives from the office of the AG,” she said.

    The case was adjourned to June 18 for continuation of trial.

    NAN reports that on May 15, the complainant, while being led in evidence by Dr Jide Martins, a Director in the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), narrated how she was given a spiked glass of Hennessey and Coca-cola at the Kabaal Night club in Ikoyi, Lagos.

    She alleged that she was later taken to another hotel, where she lost consciousness, and was subsequently raped by the defendants, just as they video-taped the incident.

    The prosecution alleged that George, 25, and Rasak, 28, committed the offence on Feb. 3, from 5.00a.m to 7.00a.m. at De-Lankaster Hotels, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.

    The offences contravene Sections 258 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

  • MFM pastor blames devil after raping, impregnating teenager [Photo]

    MFM pastor blames devil after raping, impregnating teenager [Photo]

    Operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has released the photograph of a pastor of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, Gwarinpa branch, David Onyekachuku, who allegedly raping and impregnating a 16-year-old girl.

    Recall TheNewsGuru had earlier published a report that Onyekachuku, 48, who hails from Nsukka in Enugu State, had met the victim, a Junior Secondary School 2 pupil in the Karmo area of ABujasometime in 2018 and started making love advances to her.

    According to NAPTIP in a statement on Sunday, the pastor, after his arrest and during interrogation, confessed to have sexually abused the girl two times and blamed the act on the “work of the devil.”

    It was gathered that when Onyekachuku met the victim for the first time, he volunteered to provide shelter and also to deliver her from witchcraft.

    The victim had lost her parents in 2018 and was said to be in dire need of accommodation.

    The anti-trafficking agency said investigation revealed that the pastor lost his wife at an undisclosed period and later brought the victim to stay with him and his daughter in Karmo.

    He allegedly volunteered to assist the victim with her education. The victim noted that it was in her first year with the pastor that he started making love advances to her, an action she resisted.

    NAPTIP said the pastor first raped the victim in March 2019 during her birthday and allegedly continued to rape her thereafter, resulting in the pregnancy.

    The anti-trafficking agency said in the statement by the Head of Press and Public Relations, Mrs Stella Nezan, that the case would be “diligently prosecuted to secure justice for the victim.”

    Nezan said, “During interrogation, the pastor with the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, confessed to have sexually abused the girl twice and attributed the evil act to the work of the devil.

    “He stated that he took the girl in to conduct deliverance on her and also enrolled her in school, having dropped out for about two years. After the deliverance, he took her to live with him and his daughter.”

    The NAPTIP Director General, Julie Okah-Donli, said, “Rather than doing what is biblically expected of him in line with his calling, he abused his position and preyed on the very victim he was supposed to protect.

    “Arising from the increased cases of rape and sexual abuse of female children and even males across the country, I have directed massive sensitisation across the country in order to arrest the situation.”

  • MFM pastor Onyekachukwu arrested for raping 16-year old orphan

    David Onyekachukwu, a 48-year old Pastor with the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Church, Gwaripa Branch, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja has been arrested for alleged rape and sexual exploitation of a 16-year old orphan and impregnating her.

    Onyekachukwu was arrested by operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons.

    The unidentified victim, a Junior Secondary School Student of one of the government schools in Abuja, had dropped out of school and was in dire need of accommodation shortly after the death of her parents in 2018.

    The pastor from Nsukka, Enugu State, took advantage of the girl when he harboured her in his house, following promises to conduct deliverance for the girl, accused of witchcraft. He had been a neighbour to the girl’s parents in Karmo community in the suburb of Abuja. He volunteered to assist her in her education so as to give her a fulfilled life.

    According to reports, the pastor began making love advances to the girl, a year after living together. She resisted the advances.

    She told NAPTIP operatives that the first time the Pastor raped her was in March this year during her birthday.

    She explained that Onyekachuku had taken her and his daughter out on birthday celebration to some relaxation centres in Abuja.

    According to her, in the evening, after the daughter of the Pastor had gone to bed, he approached her and pounced on her, ignoring all pleas to leave her alone.

    The pastor raped the girl several times thereafter, resulting into pregnancy.

    During interrogation, Onyekachuku confessed to have sexually abused the girl only twice and attributing the evil act to the “work of the devil”.

  • MFM pastor arrested for allegedly raping, impregnating 16 year-old orphan

    MFM pastor arrested for allegedly raping, impregnating 16 year-old orphan

    David Onyekachukwu, a 48-year-old Pastor with the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Church, Gwaripa Branch, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja has been arrested for alleged rape and sexual exploitation of a 16-year-old orphan and impregnating her.

    Onyekachukwu was arrested by operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons.

    The unidentified victim, a Junior Secondary School Student of one of the government schools in Abuja, had dropped out of school and was in dire need of accommodation shortly after the death of her parents in 2018.

    The pastor from Nsukka, Enugu State, took advantage of the girl when he harboured her in his house, following promises to conduct deliverance for the girl, accused of witchcraft. He had been a neighbour to the girl’s parents in Karmo community in the suburb of Abuja. He volunteered to assist her in her education so as to give her a fulfilled life.

    According to a report by The Eagle Online, the pastor began making love advances to the girl, a year after living together. She resisted the advances.

    She told NAPTIP operatives that the first time the Pastor raped her was in March this year during her birthday.

    She explained that Onyekachuku had taken her and his daughter out on birthday celebration to some relaxation centres in Abuja.

    According to her, in the evening, after the daughter of the Pastor had gone to bed, he approached her and pounced on her, ignoring all pleas to leave her alone.

    The pastor raped the girl several times thereafter, resulting into pregnancy.

    During interrogation, Onyekachuku confessed to have sexually abused the girl only twice and attributing the evil act to the “work of the devil”.

  • Anambra youths protest, threaten reprisal over alleged killing, raping of women

    Anambra youths protest, threaten reprisal over alleged killing, raping of women

    Youths of Anambra West local government area, Anambra State on Monday, staged a peaceful protest over alleged continued killings of farmers and raping of women in the community.

    They accused the state government of paying lip service to their plight, threatening to embark on a reprisal attack if noting urgent was done.

    Addressing newsmen shortly after the protest, Secretary of the youths, Ikechukwu Onuorah, wondered why they would be asked to be patient while they continued to be humiliated by visitors in their communities.

    He said, “We are disappointed that the government is paying lip service to addressing the problem.

    “How can people be sleeping in their farm settlements and homes while visitors will attack, kill and cut off their neck? It makes us look as if we are weak.

    “We are just respecting Governor Obiano that is why we have not confronted the killer herdsmen. We don’t want to create an embarrassing situation for him, but we expect him to act now.

    “If they continue what they are doing, we will confront them and it will be bloody and I’m sure at the end of the clash no herdsman will ever come into Anambra West.”

    On his part, the Coordinator, Mr. Odikpo Madubueze said, “We don’t want to take laws into our hands, but Federal and State governments shouldn’t allow us to match them violence for violence, they have killed many of our people and farmers have deserted their farms.

    “It’s only few courageous farmers that go to farm in groups now, unlike before they go alone and even at that, they have always run out of the farms claiming to be pursued by herdsmen.

    “We cannot run away from our farms and villages because of people we decided to accommodate to do their cattle rearing business.”

    The protesters, carrying placards, chanted songs, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Willie Obiano to intervene by stopping further killings in the area.

    Some of the placards read, “Silent killings of our people by Fulani herdsmen our farms and villages still going on”, “We are running out of patience with the violent activities of Fulani herdsmen in Anambra West”, “Pushing us to the walls will bring mayhem, enough of the killings of our people.”

  • Alleged gang-rape: Court denies Babcock varsity student bail

    Alleged gang-rape: Court denies Babcock varsity student bail

    Justice Abiola Soladoye of an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court has denied bail to a student of Babcock University, James Aguedo, accused of involvement in gang-rape of a student of the University of Lagos (Unilag).

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Soladoye in a ruling on Thursday said Aguedo, 20, did not provide compelling circumstances as to why the court should grant him bail.

    “The essence of bail is to ensure the defendant’s attendance at trial. In deciding an application for bail, certain factors must be taken into consideration such as the nature of the charge and the evidence adduced.

    “Grant of bail of a defendant in a criminal offence is not automatic, it is at the discretion of the court.

    “I am, therefore, of the view that the application before the court has not shown any compelling or exceptional circumstances to warrant the court exercising its discretion in favour of the applicant.

    “The application for bail is hereby refused, and the court shall give this case accelerated trial; I so hold,” the judge said.

    NAN reports that Aguedo’s counsel, Mr Lawal Pedro (SAN), had on March 25 prayed the court to granted him bail to enable him to write examination at the Babcock University in April.

    He also submitted that the undergraduate suffered from ill-health and needed constant medical attention.

    “He has a recurring back ailment. We brought not just a medical report but the history, because he has been attending an orthopaedic hospital.

    “The prison facility is not conducive for him,” the SAN said.

    Pedro had attached Aguedo’s school identity card and admission letter to the bail application dated March 13.

    Also attached were a National Orthopedic Hospital, Igbobi, Yaba, Lagos, appointment card, history of medical examination and a St Dominic’s Catholic Church’s letter of recommendation.

    NAN reports that the student is standing trial alongside Moboluwaji Omowole, 19, Chuka Chukwu, 19, Peace Nwankama, 19 and Osemeka Josephine, 20.

    The defendants were charged with serial gang-rape of a Unilag student (name withheld).

    According to prosecution counsel, Mrs Fehinti Ogbemudia, the defendants committed the gang rape sometime in 2017 within the premises of Unilag.

    The alleged victim had on Feb. 26 testified that she was lured by Nwankama who was her roommate to High Rise, a staff quarters hostel, in Unilag.

    She said she was gang-raped at High Rise by eight students, and that the sexual assault was video- taped.

    According to the alleged victim, she was also blackmailed with the video and further gang-raped on other occasions by the defendants and their accomplices who are now at large.

    The five defendants have been remanded in the Kirikiri Prisons since Feb. 26, when they were arraignment.

    The case has been adjourned until May 2 for continuation of trial.

  • Police arrest father, son for raping, impregnating 14-year-old girl

    Police arrest father, son for raping, impregnating 14-year-old girl

    The Lagos State Police Command’s Gender Unit has arrested a 44-year-old man and his 19-year-old son for allegedly raping and impregnating a 14-year-old girl.

    The Lagos State Police Command’s spokesperson, DSP Bala Elkana, said in a press statement that the case was reported at the gender unit of the command by the mother of the victim.

    He said that the unit received a complaint that a minor was being defiled by her sister’s husband identified as Kabiru Oke of No. 1, Olatikupo St, Egbeda and his son, Oke Faruq,19, living within the same premises with his father.

    He said that the girl had been living with the suspects for some time now, and that her sister’s husband started having carnal knowledge of her since last October.

    “The second suspect, being the son of the first suspect, started having unlawful carnal knowledge of the same minor on Jan. 10, 2019.

    “The suspects have constantly threatened to kill the victim if she ever tells anybody about the affairs. The victim exposed them when her mother suspected some changes in her and discovered that she was pregnant”, Elkana said.

    The PPRO said that the girl had been taken to Mirabel Centre by the gender unit of the police command for medical examination, while the two suspects had been arrested and charged to a magistrate court .

    “The case was, however adjourned till May 13, 2019 while the suspects were remanded in Kirikiri Prisons.” he said.

    In a related development, the PPRO said that one Marainerume Alfred, 45 ,of Oke Itunu Church Close, Ejigbo, a suburb of Lagos had also been arrested for defiling a 14-year-old girl.

    He said the matter was also reported to the gender unit of the police command by the mother of the survivor.

    “The complainant stated that they were living in the same street with the suspect.

    “That the suspect usually invited the survivor into his shop while on her way from school, along Iyana Ejigbo road, where he was selling Nigerian Films and would have unlawful sexual intercourse with her.

    “The suspect committed the crime between May 2018 and March 27, 2019.

    “The suspect in his statement to the police said that he turned the survivor into his sex partner after he divorced his wife in May 2018.

    “The matter was discovered on March 27 , 2019 at 2p.m., by the survivor’s grandmother who perceived some odours from the survivor’s body when she returned home and subjected her to questioning.

    “The survivor opened up to her grandmother and narrated the whole story.

    “She further stated that, the suspect threatened that she would die if she ever disclosed it to her parents.

    “That the suspect usually gave her some drugs to take and equally mixrf salt and water for her to take after sex to prevent her from getting pregnant.

    The PPRO said , “Investigation is ongoing, and the suspect will be charged to court for defilement after its completion.”

  • Military court dismisses air force officer who raped 14-year-old

    A special military court in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Tuesday dismissed a Flight Lieutenant, Martins Enwerem, for raping a 14-year-old internally displaced person.

    The soldier raped the girl, Zara Ali, while she and her friends were out searching for firewood at the outskirts of Maiduguri.

    Due to harsh conditions at the camps, most of the displaced persons fend for themselves especially in the area of cooking meals.

    The victim was on an errand to help her family prepare the day’s meal when the soldier raped her.

    The officer was also demoted to the rank of flight officer and will have to serve a jail term as soon as a superior military authority approves his sentence.

    According to the ruling of the president of the court, Yakubu Auta, a major-general, Mr Enwerem, was found guilty in all the three count charges brought against him.

    The counts are “defiling, assault and disobedience of standing order.”

    “This special court marshal at this moment sentence(s) you, Flight Lieutenant M.I Enwerem NAF 5771 as follows; Count One; dismissed from the armed forces, reduction in rank from Flight Lieutenant to Flight Officer; three years loss of seniority on the new rank…”

  • How our father defiled, raped us, 2 sisters tell court

    Two sisters on Monday told an Ikeja Domestic Violence and Special Offences Court, how their father, Gabriel Ogbar, allegedly defiled and raped them at their residence at Oke-Ogbe, Atura area of Badagry, Lagos State.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two sisters (names withheld) made the revelation at the ongoing trial of Ogbar, a middle-aged driver, for defiling and raping his three daughters.

    Sister A (23) told the court that she endured sexual abuse from her father for five-years from the age of 12 until she was 18-years-old.

    She said in her testimony: “When I was 12-years-old, I was living with my mum and dad, my mum is not always around because she is a businesswoman and my father was a driver at the time.

    “Whenever my mother is not around, he comes to me at night with a knife or screwdriver or something harmful to threaten me to open up to sleep with me, because I was scared at the time, I gave in to his requests to sleep with me.

    “It continued for a very long time, I could not tell anyone about it because I was scared. When I got to the age of 18-years, there was a night he came to me but I ran to my mum’s pastor who is Mrs Ochiegbu and I reported the event to her.

    “I hid in her church and my dad came and was saying that I should start coming home but unknown to him, I had explained everything to them at church, I waited at the church till my mother returned and I went home with her.

    “The next day, the pastor called my mother and told her everything I told her, she was upset and did not know what to do.”

    Sister A said that her father continued to ask her for sex and she had to run away from home for a year, she said she had thought the abuse at home had stopped until her older sister (Sister B) caught their father defiling their 13-year-old sister.

    “I and my older sister (Sister B) went for a vigil, my father did not allow our younger sister to go for the vigil, my older sister said she had a funny feeling and needed to go home to check on our younger sister.

    “When she got home everywhere was quiet and being suspicious, she went to the window to peep and she saw my dad trying to rape our younger sister, he had just finished fingering her.

    “My older sister shouted and ran back to the church to report what happened, I and my older sister went back to the house to get our younger sister out of the house.

    “He started attacking us and we started fighting him too, our younger sister ran out and we told her to go to the church until my mum came because she comes late.

    “We reported to our mum and asked our younger sister how long it had been going on and she explained that it had been a very long time he had been doing it to her and that she told her uncle at school,” she said.

    Sister A said that the abuse was reported to Andrew Ogbar, the defendant’s brother who threatened them that they should not testify against their father.

    Sister B who is 25-years-old while giving her testimony, told the court that the sexual abuse from their father started when she was 10-years-old.

    She said that nobody believed her when she reported the abuse to the police.

    “When it started, he threatened that he will kill me if I told anyone, because he used to scare me, I used to run away from home to stay with my friends and my mum never knew about it.

    “One day he was beating and threatening me, I could not take it anymore and I again ran away from home. He was pursuing me and I ran to the police station at Iba.

    “The police asked me what happened and I told them what happened, the police thought I was lying because my father was pursuing me.

    “The police caught him, he denied my allegations and said that it is because I ran away from home, that is why I made up the allegations, the police believed him,” Sister B said.

    She said the family moved to Atura in Badagry and the sexual abuse continued. Sister B also gave insight into the night she caught her father defiling her 13-year-old sister.

    “I looked through the window and saw my father sleeping with my little sister. I went into the house and caught my father coming out of the room he shares with my mum.

    “I saw my little sister shaking and crying and my father ran out immediately he saw me asking me why I was back home from the vigil and I thought to myself that this man thinks I don’t know what is going on.

    “I asked my younger sister what happened and she said that daddy just finished sleeping with her, I was angry and provoked, I shouted because I wanted the whole street to know what was going on,” Sister B said.

    Sister B said that following the revelation that their father was also defiling the youngest sister, their father became aggressive, threatening the sisters and their mother.

    “The threats were too much, my father hit my mother with a stick and wanted to burn her alive with fuel.

    “We reported him to the Marogbo Police Station but he kept evading arrest until the police caught him.

    “When the police saw the injuries on my mum’s hand from my father, they believed us and that is when we were taken from one court to another,” she said.

    While being cross-examined by Mr Peter Odoeme, Sister B noted that she caught her father defiling their 13-year-old sister in July 2015.

    NAN reports that on Feb. 25, the youngest sister (name withheld) had privately given evidence in court about the alleged defilement.

    The press and members of the public were asked to leave the courtroom during the third sister’s testimony because she was a minor.

    Following the testimony of the sisters, Justice Abiola Soladoye adjourned the case until May 23 for continuation of trial.

  • Mobile policeman rapes ATM user at gun point

    A mobile policeman in Anambra has been detained for allegedly defiling a 35-year-old lady in the premises of one of the new generation banks.

    The victim (name withheld) was said to have gone to make some transactions at the bank’s Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in the night when the incident occurred.

    Confirming the report, Commissioner of police, Rabiu Ladodo, said the command was still investigating the matter.

    He said the command would make the report public after investigation being handled by the state Criminal investigation Department CID, Awka

    The Nation gathered that the suspect, employed as a security guard to the bank, had approached the victim, demanding to have sexual intercourse with her.

    An employee of the bank, who pleaded anonymity, said the victim had initially refused the request until she was threatened with a gun by the suspect.

    According to the source: “With her life threatened, and nobody around to rescue her, she submitted and he had his way”

    The source further revealed that the victim stormed the bank the following day with some policemen who arrested the suspect.

    Ladodo said: “Soon after the police received complaint of the alleged rape from the victim, operatives were dispatched and the suspect was quickly arrested and placed under detention.”

    But he said that preliminary investigation was yet to establish whether the victim was raped during the incident.

    Ladodo however assured that the suspect would face necessary punishment if found guilty.