DEMANDS FOR INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF SODIQ SHEHU OF 13, DILALI COMPOUND DADA STREET, ALAWONLA AREA, ALHAJI SHAFIHI ABDULRAHMAN (ERO LALIJANNAH) OF ILE ONIPONMON COMPOUND, OKELELE AND AMBALI ABDULFATAI OF DADA AREA, ILE ASOGBA COMPOUND NEW OGANLA AREA ON THE ALLEGATIONS OF CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY, ABDUCTION, TRAFFIC IN WOMEN, ASSAULT, CRIMINAL FORCE AND RAPE

The above subject matter refers

We are Solicitor to Miss Medinah Shehu of 13, Dilali Compound, Dada Street, Alawonla Area, Ilorin Kwara State. (hereinafter referred to as ‘our client’) on whose instruction and mandate we write you hereunder.

We have the brief of our client that her father Sodiq Shehu conspired with one Alhaji Abdulrahman Shafihi (Ero lalijannah) to give her inhumane and degrading treatments then dumped her with one Ambali Abdulfatai who abducted, assaulted and raped her. Her offence is that she has understood that a Muslim lady must not dress indecently but cover up her body and that no one is to be bowed for except God. She repeatedly pleaded with her father to allow her adhere to these tenets but her father preferred her to be dead instead.

In the beginning, our client’s father beat her mercilessly and seized the veils with which she covered her body on several occasion. She was still hesitant; the father then took her forcefully to a remote Village called Alapa in a bid to give her grievous maltreatments. Our client felt sick and fainted many times which necessitated the man with which her father dropped her with to call the father to come and take her back. The father said the man should let her die, if she dies, he would send cloth for her burial. That man had to find another means to get our client back to Ilorin after 23 days of her stay in the Village.

Not long afterwards, Alhaji Shafihi (Ero Lalijannah) with whom our client has no blood relationship with but who had sometimes ago lived in our client’s neighborhood surfaced, confined our client with one other lady called Basheerah in his house for three days, tied them down and beat them to stupor with the knowledge of our client’s father. After the prolonged torture, it is unfortunate that their sole request still remained that our client and the other lady should recant their religious beliefs in the face of clear Constitutional provisions that guarantee freedom of religion. When our client refused to recant her belief, they forcefully took her back to the Alapa Village whereas they asked her to as a matter of compulsion, choose a spouse from the only ten men in the entire Village. Our client refused and some new sets of deprivation, ill-treatment, torture, force and assault started rolling out. Our client managed to get a phone and quickly texted a friend on the development. The friend informed some concerned individuals who went to the Village with some police men.

The DPO, Alapa Police Station despite his keen interest to ensure that justice was done, could not proceed further as our client’s father had pleaded with our client before they went to the police station not to expose what was going on to the police, he however promised to stop the maltreatment, allow her choose the husband of her choice and let her have peace with her religious belief. Unfortunately, the whole promise was a trick to enable the father and his cohorts escape the wrath of justice at that time.

Our client was thereafter brought back to Ilorin and forcefully taken to one Ambali Abdulfatai who was a student of Alhaji Abdulrahman Shafihi (Ero Lalijannah) who masterminded the whole thing without the knowledge, consent or approval of our client. The three of them are aware that what they did could not translate to marriage between our client and the said Abdulfatai but it was just part of the maltreatment packages as if we are in a lawless society. Our client cried tirelessly for help but could not be rescued. When Abdulfatai discovered our client was making contacts to escape, he took our client unaware in company of his brother to a remote village on bike at about 11 pm and got to the village around 1am in the midnight and confined our client there for several weeks.

After several failed attempts to have sexual intercourse with our client, Abdulfatai on an unforgettable day beat her, removed her veil, torn her cloths and raped her. Our client lounged for whom to rescue her but she did not even know the description to the Village and she was told she would not be brought to Ilorin until she gets pregnant. She had to start pretending that she was pleased with the whole thing. Now, our client has been returned to Ilorin under the strict and torturing watch of Abdulfatai and unfortunately, she is now carrying the baby of this unwanted total stranger.

We therefore urge you sir to use your good office as usual to prevail on this matter by investigating the alleged offences of CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY, ABDUCTION, TRAFFIC IN WOMEN, ASSAULT, CRIMINAL FORCE AND RAPE against Sodiq Shehu of 13, Dilali Compound Dada Street, Alawonla area, Alhaji Shafihi Abdulrahman (ero lalijannah) of Ile Oniponmon Compound, Okelele and Ambali Abdulfatai of Dada Area, Ile Asogba Compound New Oganla area and to take appropriate steps in ensuring that they are prosecuted as they have always torn our client apart and are not hesitant to have her killed because of their own ego.