Five suspects, who posed as
businessmen, have been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly
abducting and gang-raping a woman.
The suspects – Ugochukwu
Eso, Gabriel Obinna, Chinedu Ezechukwu, Akubueze Nnadozie and Godwin Balogun –
used a hotel, which the police did not disclose, in the Agege area of the state
to perpetrate the crime.
Punch gathered that
18-year-old Obinna allegedly used a Magic Voice application on his mobile phone
to change his voice to that of a woman while communicating with the victim on
the telephone.
Using a pseudonym, Vanessa,
he allegedly invited her to inspect some non-existent goods in his house.
A police source said the
gang’s mode of operation was to lure female customers into their midst,
gang-rape them and threaten to blackmail the women with video recordings of the
rape unless some money was paid to them.
In the latest incident on
Tuesday, August 2, the gang members allegedly lured their female victim through
telephone calls to their apartment, which was a hotel, before gang-raping her.
The suspects reportedly
demanded N2m to release her, but she later parted with N50, 000.
The victim reported the
matter at the Isokoko Police Division and the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual
Violence Response Team, Alausa, after leaving the hotel.
The suspects were,
thereafter, trailed to the hotel and arrested.
Speaking while being paraded
at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters, Ikeja, on Wednesday, Eso said
his gang collected N20, 000 from the lady and she willingly had sex with him
and Obinna.
He said, “The lady came into
the hotel to meet another woman. When she saw us, she became nervous. We calmed
her down and told her we were just looking for money to eat and she should give
us whatever she had.
“She gave us N20, 000 and we
began to talk freely in the room. She used some drugs and willingly had sexual
affair with me and Gabriel (Obinna). After the sex, we accompanied her to the
taxi and we parted amicably. It was not a rape.”
Obinna said, “The lady and I
had been discussing on the phone; we were friends. I have a Magic Voice
application on my phone which I used to discuss with her. We did not rape her.
She did not make any noise during the sex; she was just smiling. We were the
ones who put her on a bus. Only two of us slept with her.”
The DSVRT Coordinator, Lola-Vivour Adeniyi,
said, “One of the suspects, named Vanessa, chatted with the victim on
Instagram. She claimed that she was a graduate and she sold clothes. According
to the victim, the fake businesswoman called her from time to time to discuss
business with her.
“On the day of the incident,
the victim came from Oshodi to the address Vanessa gave her in Agege. As she
climbed into the house, reportedly owned by Vanessa, three men pushed her into
a room and increased the volume of the television so that no one would hear her
voice.
“After the rape, the
suspects said she should provide N2m before she would be released. She called
some friends and was able to raise N50,000, which they withdrew from her bank
account using the ATM. She was held hostage from 12pm to 7pm.
“The DSVRT has directed her
to the Mirabel Centre, Ikeja, for a checkup. We worked with the police to
ensure the arrest of the suspects and the victim has identified three of them.”
The State Commissioner of
Police, Fatai Owoseni, who paraded the gang, said the police would charge them
to court at the end of investigation.
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