I Bled Profusely, Fainted as ‘Suspected Ritualist’ Raped Me’ —11 -yr-old Girl

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 consciousness 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.