A 29-year-old man, Friday Oyedele, has been arrested by the police in Lagos for allegedly raping and impregnating a Beninoise, Funmi, in the Ilupeju area of the state.
Aside the rape, he allegedly penetrated the victim with a ring which he said would kill her if she told anyone about the sexual assault.The secret was concealed until the victim became three months’ pregnant and the matter was reported at the Ilupeju Police Station by a resident.
Our correspondent gathered that an official of the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender, who was sent to the station, was verbally assaulted by the relatives of the suspect and the Alhaja, who said the duo were lovers.
But the victim, in a video clip obtained by our correspondent, said the suspect raped her.
She said, “I work as a maid at Ilupeju. Whenever I finished working and went to the backyard to sleep, the boy, Friday (Oyedele), would use a ring to sleep with me. When I decided to tell people, he said I should not. Friday said if I did, I would die. Whenever I tried to tell people, I would forget. The man is 29 years old. He told me so himself. I am three months pregnant.”
Efforts to rescue the victim to a government shelter were reportedly resisted as the Investigating Police Officer, one Rosaline, allegedly said the families had agreed to amicable settlement.The OPD worker said the suspect’s family boasted that nothing would come out of the case.
Funmi’s mistress claimed that the suspect brought her from Benin Republic to Lagos, adding that Oyedele was 19 years old.But the victim, in a video clip obtained by our correspondent, said the suspect raped her.The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chike oti, confirmed the incident.He, however, denied allegations of compromising the case.
He said, “The girl and the man, 19-year-old Friday Oyedele, are lovers; even though they are too young to engage in such act. The result of their relationship was the pregnancy. The suspect was arrested and will be arraigned tomorrow (Wednesday).”
.