The Police Command in Lagos State said it had detained one of its officers who allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl at the Area H Command, Ogudu.
The command’s spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, who confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday, however, denied report that the police authority was shielding the suspected rapist.
Hundeyin explained that the officer in question, had allegedly absconded from work since the time of alleged incident, and only turned himself in on Saturday to face questioning.
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The image maker, who assured the public that the matter was not being swept under carpet, said that the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr Adegoke Fayoade, had ordered the Gender Unit of the command to immediately investigate the case.
“The case is under full investigation. There is no plan to cover up the allegation,” he said.
NAN had earlier reported that a 17-year-old girl (name withheld), reported a case of rape against a senior officer attached to Area H Command Ogudu, Ojota area, to her parents.
NAN learnt that the girl became a victim of alleged violent sexual assault while trying to recover her alleged stolen phone by some criminals.
NAN investigation revealed that the said police officer, who got wind of the stolen phone, offered to help track the girl’s missing phone after taking her statement.
It also learnt that the officer, simply identified as Owolabi, allegedly deceptfully tricked the teenager with false information that police operatives had arrested the suspected thief.
“The officer then lured the girl with the false information. When she arrived his office, he allegedly raped the girl under gun point,” a source said.
Punch had earlier repoarted that the 17-Year-old girl was raped right inside a Police Station. The 17-year-old girl was reportedly raped inside Ogudu Police Station in the Ojota area of the Lagos state.
According to PUNCH, an officer attached to the station had promised to help the teenager retrieve her phone, which was stolen by ‘one chance’ robbers.
The suspect was said to have overheard the victim recounting her ordeal to her mother at her shop and offered to help track the phone.
Narrating her ordeal to the publication, the teenager said: “On June 29, officer Owolabi called my mum on her phone and told her he had arrested the person with my phone and my mum should send me to his police station and I went there. On getting there, I was told they made a mistake with the tracking, and that the person caught wasn’t the one with my phone.
“The officer sent his personal assistant to call me into his office and he showed me directions there. When I entered his office and greeted him, he replied and got up to lock the door and put the key in his pocket. I shouted, ‘Sir, why did you lock the door?’
“He started trying to pull my clothes off and I shouted, then he brought out a gun, cocked it, and threatened to shoot me if I shouted. Then he began harassing me and when I struggled with him he hit me on the back of my head with the gun and raped me.
“I saw his phone ringing and the caller was my mum, but he told me since I didn’t have a phone with me, I should tell her I didn’t get to his office and from now on I should be reporting at his office by 12 pm every day during school break or while returning from school that he had been watching me for two years and now I just fell into his trap.”
Mrs Aramide Olupona, mother of the victim, however, accused the police of trying to cover up the allegation.
“The suspect’s wife and the rest of his family have come to my shop to plead with me saying he would soon retire, but what about my daughter that was raped? Is it because I am a poor woman?”
“The Area Commander of the station too invited me and pleaded with me to bury the case, now they are saying the suspect has fled and his whereabouts are unknown, but my daughter is distraught and has said she wants to commit suicide. My girl needs justice,” she was quoted to have said.
When contacted on Saturday morning, Benjamin Hundeyin, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, asked our correspondent to contact some numbers about police action.
“Sorry, I can’t take this call right now. For complaints about police action, call 08090277714, 08090277712, 08090277711, 08090277713, 091111111151, 0911199116, 09111111150. Or send a text,” Hundeyin said.
But when our correspondent contacted one of the numbers, the respondent said: “I don’t deal with such. This is police misconduct. Maybe you should call the PRO later, he might be in a conference.”
NAN / Punch
