Controversy is trailing the reported rape of a 30-year-old woman in Lagos by four members of Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, last week, at Alapere area of Lagos State.
While sources at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Ikeja, Lagos, insisted that a woman was brought to their centre for treatment after she was gang-raped by four OPC members, police have denied receiving such report at Alapere division.
When contacted, the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, and the new police spokeswoman in the state, Patricia Amadim, denied that such incident happened.
However, sources, which specialises in offering counselling and medical treatment to victims of rape and cases of sexual violence, said the traumatised woman alleged that she was beaten and raped by the four men right inside her makeshift shop at Mile 12 area of Alapere.
According to the sources, after raping her, the suspects threatened to unleash more harm on her should she attempt to report the incident to anybody.
It was gathered that the victim, allegedly referred to the centre by police, narrated her experience to workers at the centre, who promptly offered her medical services free of charge.
Conversation with IPO
Vanguard investigations further revealed that despite claims and counter-claims, an investigating officer, Sergeant Ibrahim Isiola, with telephone number 08038414197, was assigned to handle the case by the police at Alapere.
When the officer was called on telephone yesterday, after persistent ringing, he picked his phone around 5.16p.m. and the following conversation ensued between him and the reporter:
Officer: Yes, who is calling?
Reporter: Ibrahim my brother, how are you?
Officer: I am fine. Who are you?
Reporter: Abeg, are you still serving at Alapere?
Officer: Ok, what is it?
Reporter: I want to know how far you have gone with the case of that woman that was raped by four OPC men.
Officer: Who are you?
Reporter: My name is Emma Nnadozie of Vanguard Newspaper…
Officer: What! Please, this is a wrong number.
Efforts to further get him on line failed as he switched off his telephone. Further efforts made to get the police image-maker in the state failed as the line rang persistently without response.
Efforts to also speak with the victim failed as sources at the Mirabel Centre said she was still recuperating from the trauma of her ordeal.
Another source hinted that she was afraid of speaking out because of threats from her rapists.
No comments:
Post a Comment