By Esther Onyegbula

When Mrs Lawal sent her 11-year-old grand-daughter (names withheld) on an errand to deliver okro to a customer, she did not envisage that the girl would be ambushed not to talk of being raped.
The fate that befell the grand-daughter on November 29, 2015, at Pure Water Bus Stop along Lagos-Badagry Road, was better imagined than experienced; she was found lying on a culvert unconscious, with blood all over her body.

It was learned that victim was ambushed on her way to the next street when a 27-year-old bakery worker, identified as Sule, allegedly ambushed her, dragged her to an uncompleted building and raped her.
It was alleged that Sule then abandoned the little girl there. She regained conscious and barely able to walk out of the uncompleted building when she collapsed on a culvert near Adebola International School, along palace road.

The suspect allegedly ran away after the rape, but police officers from Morogbo Divisional Police Headquarters apprehended him a week later.

Narrating her ordeal, the Primary 3 pupil said: ‘’After my grandma returned from the market that day, she sent me to her customer who sells cooked food at the other street. She asked me to supply her fresh okro which the customer had ordered for”.

‘’It was while I was on my way there that uncle Sule, who works in a bakery at Itoro area, called me. He said he wanted to buy okro for his wife. I told him the okro was not for sale, and that my mother’s friend had ordered for it. He said I should follow him, but I refused. All of a sudden, he grabbed me and dragged me to an uncompleted building. When I tried to shout, he used his hand to cover my mouth. As I tried to struggle, he tore my clothes and removed my pants. He also used his nails to injure my back as I attempted to escape, he over powered me and raped me.””

Mrs Lawal, the grandma, also gave her perspective of the incident. She stated: “After waiting for about 30 minutes for her to come back from the errand, I started looking for her because the place where she was supposed to take the okro to was the next street, less than 10 minutes’ walk. It was around 2pm that I asked her to go and give the okro to my customer who placed the order. After waiting for her to come, I started looking for her before an Okada man came to alert me that they had found my grand-daughter at about 2:30pm, and that she was lying unconscious on a culvert close to Adebola School. When I got there, onlookers had gathered at the scene. I was pained at what I saw; my little girl soaked in her own blood, her clothes torn. It was obvious she had been raped, as she was bleeding profusely, but because she was unconscious we didn’t know who was responsible. Immediately, I called my husband and he asked me to report the case to the police. When we got to Morogbo Police Station, they gave us police report and referred us to the General Hospital, Badagry.’’

She continued: “A doctor’s report from the hospital confirmed that my grand child was raped, as she had deep cuts and severe injuries inflicted on her virginal which caused the bleeding. The doctor stated that because of complications arising from the rape, her womb had been affected and that she needed urgent surgery. So they referred us to Igando General Hospital, along Iba -LASU road where they said they had the facility to handle her case.”’

Also speaking on the incident, Mr Lawal, the grandfather of the victim, said, “I was not at home when my wife called me that something terrible had happened.

Immediately, I asked her to go the police station to report the case. I met her at Morogbo Divisional Police Station.

“From Badagry General Hospital, I had to charter a cab that took us to Igando General Hospital, but because of traffic, we did not get to Igando until around 11pm and, by 12 midnight, she was in the theater because of the serious nature of her case. She was on admission from that day till Sunday when she was discharged.

‘’All we want is for justice to be done. Sincerely, we don’t know the effect of this rape on this little girl. We don’t know if the rapist did it for ritual purposes. We want justice because we don’t know the outcome of this. Already, we have spent about N150, 000 on the treatment and surgery she underwent. Currently, the police at Panti are demanding money to continue the prosecution of the case. One of them asked for N20, 000.”

It was gathered that the case was transferred from Morogbo to Lagos State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba, Panti, for further investigation and the girl’s torn clothes stained with blood are being used as exhibits.

It was gathered that the victim, who is the first child of her mother, has been living with her grandparents since she was six years old.

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The doctor stated that because of complications arising from the rape, her womb had been affected and that she needed urgent surgery.

"Currently, the police at Panti are demanding money to continue
the prosecution of the case. One of them asked for N20, 000.”

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