For three sisters in Bariga area of Lagos, January 14, 2011 would remain a terrible date in their minds till they breathe their last. On the fateful day, three armed young men allegedly invaded their home, causing unmitigated misery and sorrow. The men reportedly robbed the three ladies of cash and other valuables. They then took turns to rape their victims.
That wasn’t all. The men then abused and humiliated the sisters by using the handle of their axe to ravage their private parts.
One of the ladies, who was pregnant at the time, allegedly lost her pregnancy. And by the time the monsters in human skin left, the entire room was like a slaughter house with small pools of blood everywhere.
The incident happened at Lawal Street, Bariga.
Nemesis has, however, caught up with two of the suspected robbers. Amaechi Ogba and Ikenna Adibe, both 25, have been arrested in connection with the incident and are both telling the police what they know about the dastardly act. Ugo Nweze, the third suspect, is still on the run. The robbers were said to have climbed the fence around 2.30 am, broke the door with an axe and forced their way into the room. They robbed the three girls of money and other valuables and later gang-raped them.
One of the ladies, who was two months pregnant at the time, lost her baby in the process. She, like the others, almost bled to death.
Among the items stolen from the ladies was a Blackberry, which was allegedly sold to one Isa Muhammed for N13, 000. Ironically, it was through the phone that the men of the State Anti -Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja traced and arrested the buyer. Muhammed subsequently took the detectives to the two suspects. On March 6, Adibe and Ogba were arrested. They have since been cooling their heels in police custody.
The victims have also identified both suspects as among the trio that robbed and raped them.
Adibe, in a chat, told our reporter that his gang members and their victims were all neighbours in the Ilaje area of Bariga, admitting that they had robbed the area on two occasions.
He said after forcing their way into the victims’ room, they robbed and raped the ladies.
“They cooperated with us and we collected their wedding rings, their money and their ATM cards. We later raped them.
We raped the three girls in their rooms and we later inserted the handle of the axe in their private parts. One of them even begged us that she was pregnant, but we didn’t budge.” Adibe, who said he hails from Ebonyi State, said one of the victims attended the same secondary school with him in Bariga. He said they spent only one hour in the house of their victims. The other suspect, Ogba, said they used clothes to cover the victims’ faces so that they would not be identified.
“Immediately we took the ATM card, I quickly went to a bank and withdrew N5, 000. Ugo Nweze, who is now at large, was the one who said we should not pity our victims. Immediately we were arrested, the victims were able to identify us because we were all neighbours. We are pleading that we should be forgiven. It was the devil that used us,” he pleaded.
Officer-in-charge of SARS, Mr. Abba Kyari, a superintendent of police (SP), said it was the information on the Blackberry that served as a guide for the policemen. Through the information, the detectives swung into action and arrested the receiver and eventually, the suspects, he said.
Abba said the two suspects had confessed that they had been terrorising the Bariga area of Lagos for some time.
One of the victims, who wouldn’t want her name mentioned, said the experience was bitter and pathetic.
Her words: “We never knew such an incident could happen in our area. We were suddenly woken up in the night and we saw people jumping in through the fence. They broke our door and forcefully entered our room. They demanded for money and we gave them what we had. They demanded for our ATM cards and we gave them. They demanded for our wedding rings, we also gave them. When they demanded for sex, we pleaded with them, using the name of Jesus Christ.
They refused and raped the three of us. As if that was not enough, they started using the handle of the axe with which they broke our door to penetrate our private parts. They didn’t stop until they saw blood coming out.” The lady said they went to the Bariga Police Station to report the ugly incident and later went to the hospital to have themselves examined. “A doctor said we had contacted some Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) and we were treated.
One of the policemen later informed us that they had arrested the suspects and when we got to the police custody we realized that the two suspects were our neighbours. They also confessed and begged us to forgive them for the evil they did to us.” Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Yakubu Alkali, said he was baffled with the acts of the robbers, who not only rob their victims, but also raped them. He said the young men had confessed to their sin. Alkali also said the police recovered an axe and a cutlass used during the operation from the suspects.
When our reporter visited the scene of the robbery, fear was still written on the faces of many people. A resident, Mr. Akin Agbaje, said they had been living in fear of armed robbers since last year. He said many people have fallen victims in the area and appealed to the police to be more vigilant even as he commended them for apprehending the suspects.
According to Alkali, the suspects would be arraigned in court as soon as investigations are concluded.
