PHOTO: I Bled Profusely, Fainted As ‘suspected Ritualist’ Raped Me 11yr-old Girl

Family says police asking for bribe to prosecute
assailant.
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.