Physinews Reports: At the time of writing this story, 23-year-old
Judith (not real name) was recuperating with
heavy dosage of antibiotics. She was not ill,
and neither was she down with any flu. She
had simply survived one of the worst sexual
attacks in Lagos in recent times.
The incident that would send Judith to the
emergency ward, took place around 10pm on
Sunday, August 28 at 106, Lagos-Abeokuta
Expressway, around Pako Bus Stop.
Judith’s aunty, a trader in the area, said the
young woman 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.
But to her surprise when she got home, she was
told Judith had not been seen since she left for
the shop.
The family quickly mounted a search for her in
the neighbourhood.
Her two brothers went in search of her on
streets in the area and they did find her.
One of her brothers who spoke with our
correspondent, explained that when he found
Judith, 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.
His brother told our correspondent 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.”
Judith told her family that the men grabbed her
as she crossed the expressway on her way
home.
She said 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 they
raped her.
The two 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.
Wasiu and Monaco 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.
He said, “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.
“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, 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, Judith’s family alleged that they
became like bystanders as soon as her case
got to the police station.
Her brother told our correspondent, “Before we
knew what was happening, a man had come
and said he was the lawyer of the one that was
arrested (Osinubi). I was shocked when the
suspect and his lawyer demanded that the
case be transferred to the Isokoko Police
Division, Agege, instead. We who were the
complainant had no say in the matter.”
Saturday PUNCH learnt that the case was
eventually transferred to Isokoko where two
policewomen were detached to follow Judith’s
family home.
Again, the family said they were shocked when
they got home and the policewomen told
Judith to take them to where the incident
occurred.
“She was sleeping when they came. She was
still in a terrible state. The police brought the
suspect to our home and told us to wake her
up so that she could take them to where it
happened. It was so ridiculous that they could
make her go through that at that point. I was
angry but we eventually agreed,” the victim’s
brother said.
Judith’s aunty, who followed them to the scene
of the attack, said they asked Judith to point to
where it happened and she did.
“She showed them the place and even the chair
on which she was raped. It was very wet as
they had just washed off all the blood,” the
woman said.
However, the family said they were surprised
when the police charged Osinubi to court on
Friday, September 2, 2016 for simply
obstructing police work.
According to them, the police have not shown
any sympathy for Judith in handling the case
and they fear she might never get any justice.
It is not clear what the police are doing
currently to track down the two suspects on the
run as the Lagos State Police Command
spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, did not pick
calls to her line.
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 realised how
terrible it must be for the victim that she may
not get justice,” she said.
Judith (not real name) was recuperating with
heavy dosage of antibiotics. She was not ill,
and neither was she down with any flu. She
had simply survived one of the worst sexual
attacks in Lagos in recent times.
The incident that would send Judith to the
emergency ward, took place around 10pm on
Sunday, August 28 at 106, Lagos-Abeokuta
Expressway, around Pako Bus Stop.
Judith’s aunty, a trader in the area, said the
young woman 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.
But to her surprise when she got home, she was
told Judith had not been seen since she left for
the shop.
The family quickly mounted a search for her in
the neighbourhood.
Her two brothers went in search of her on
streets in the area and they did find her.
One of her brothers who spoke with our
correspondent, explained that when he found
Judith, 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.
His brother told our correspondent 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.”
Judith told her family that the men grabbed her
as she crossed the expressway on her way
home.
She said 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 they
raped her.
The two 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.
Wasiu and Monaco 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.
He said, “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.
“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, 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, Judith’s family alleged that they
became like bystanders as soon as her case
got to the police station.
Her brother told our correspondent, “Before we
knew what was happening, a man had come
and said he was the lawyer of the one that was
arrested (Osinubi). I was shocked when the
suspect and his lawyer demanded that the
case be transferred to the Isokoko Police
Division, Agege, instead. We who were the
complainant had no say in the matter.”
Saturday PUNCH learnt that the case was
eventually transferred to Isokoko where two
policewomen were detached to follow Judith’s
family home.
Again, the family said they were shocked when
they got home and the policewomen told
Judith to take them to where the incident
occurred.
“She was sleeping when they came. She was
still in a terrible state. The police brought the
suspect to our home and told us to wake her
up so that she could take them to where it
happened. It was so ridiculous that they could
make her go through that at that point. I was
angry but we eventually agreed,” the victim’s
brother said.
Judith’s aunty, who followed them to the scene
of the attack, said they asked Judith to point to
where it happened and she did.
“She showed them the place and even the chair
on which she was raped. It was very wet as
they had just washed off all the blood,” the
woman said.
However, the family said they were surprised
when the police charged Osinubi to court on
Friday, September 2, 2016 for simply
obstructing police work.
According to them, the police have not shown
any sympathy for Judith in handling the case
and they fear she might never get any justice.
It is not clear what the police are doing
currently to track down the two suspects on the
run as the Lagos State Police Command
spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, did not pick
calls to her line.
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 realised how
terrible it must be for the victim that she may
not get justice,” she said.
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