Juliana Francis
The Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), in charge of the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department (SCIID), Waheed Ayilara, has promised to ensure that a girl who was stripped and violently raped in her father’s apartment, would get justice.
The DCP made this promise when members of the Advocates for Children and Vulnerable Persons Network (ACVPN) visited his office at the SCIID.
The group visited the DCP to register their displeasure with the way detectives were handling the rape of the victim.
The delegation was led by ACVPN’s Programmes Officer, Blessing Aderemi. The delegate visited the DCP on the 4th of October 2023.
It will be recalled that a 17-year-old girl was violently stripped and raped in her father’s house in the Ijegun area of Lagos State.
The girl’s devastated father, Davies, said that they were already expecting justice to be done concerning the incident, but were shocked to discover that getting justice at Police stations and in Nigeria is as difficult as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.
According to Davies, rather than get justice, police subjected him to a series of extortion. The police also allegedly released the suspected perpetrator and told Davies’s lawyer that the distraught father and daughter were lying against the suspect.
READ ALSO:
Lagos taskforce arrests a notorious land grabber
Lagos seals hospital for transfusing patients with unscreened blood
IYN commends Tinubu for renewing pipeline surveillance contract
The ACVPN stepped into the case, demanding justice for the victim and further demanding to know why the police released the perpetrator identified as Ayuba.
Davies tells the story of how his daughter was defiled in their home at night.
He narrated: “On July 11th, 2023, I went to work in the morning around 8: 00 a.m., and my wife went out. My 17-year-old daughter was home alone. I instructed my daughter to pump water for me when there was light because I have a mini farm.
“According to my daughter, while she was reading the Bible, she heard some footsteps and pulled down the blind a few minutes and later NEPA brought light. She went outside to pump water, and when she was releasing the dirty water in the fishpond, NEPA took the light. She went back inside the house and continued reading her Bible.
“Later she went to the room, undressed to take her bath, noticed some strange noise in the kitchen and went to check. She saw a guy run out from the kitchen, my daughter entered the kitchen and tried to lock the door. The guy started struggling with the kitchen door with my daughter. She took a dish and threw it at him, but he dodged it.
“The guy forced the kitchen door open, dragged my daughter out of the kitchen and hit her on her head. That was all she could remember. Around 11:00 a.m., I called my wife, that I wanted to go home and check if our daughter had finished what I asked her to do.
“When I got home, I knocked at the gate, because we stay alone. But no one responded. I peeped through the small hole at the gate to see if my daughter was coming, but no traces of her. I waited for a few minutes and found my way inside our compound.
“I went straight into the parlour, I saw a broken dish and a jar of broken hair cream. My daughter was lying lifeless on the floor, stark naked. They tore her clothes, and deep inside her mouth, mucus was all over her face.
“I called her name, but she didn’t respond. I started hitting her continuously on her chest for about 30 to 45 minutes before she cried out.
“I immediately called my doctor friend and explained what happened to him. On what next, he told me to ask her if she could remember today’s date, I did as directed, but she didn’t. He told me to allow her to rest for some time, which I did, and I asked her again, she remembered.
“I asked her what happened to her. She told me, she saw a tall guy, putting on a green top and Jean, a bleach fair guy, slim. He has a mark on his hand and some spots on his face with pimples.
“I called my doctor’s friend and explained to him, and he directed me to ask her about today’s date again which she remembered.
“He asked me to take her to Sexual Assault Centre popularly known as Idera Center Igando General Hospital for proper care and treatment, which I did. I was directed to the Isheri Police Division to report the case immediately.
“At Isheri Police Division, the police told me to look around for the description that fits the guy my daughter gave. Also, N180,000.00 was taken from our apartment. The money from my farm, which I sold a day before the incident.
“After two days, we noticed my daughter was scared of all the little sounds, so we had to take her away. I started doing my findings with the description she gave and I was told of one Ayuba, squatting with his friend called Femi.
“I approached Femi and told him I needed to see his friend that he stole from me. I told him the date and possible hour that the abuse was carried out.
“Femi confirmed that on a particular day and around the same time, the perpetrator, Ayuba, suddenly told him that he wasn’t going to work, for a reason best known to him, but came back, about three hours later, that he was not going to work.
“He was arrested on 18th of July 2023 at his workplace, along Agodo Egbe Lagos. I went with the person he was squatting with and one other guy. When we caught him, he asked us to allow him to sign the attendance log book, before we left, before we left for the Isheri Police Division.
“He was wearing the same Polo he wore on the day he attacked and sexually abused my daughter, the day he entered our house to commit this unspeakable act. My daughter identified him.
“The case was transferred to the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department (SCIID), Yaba, Panti, and assigned to the D10 Section. The Investigating Police Officer at D10 was one Femi of the Anti-Trafficking Unit, along with the evidence.
“A few weeks later, he called me to come, which I did! He told me I must pay N5000 for the fingerprint and footprint of the suspect, which I did. We also paid one Supol Kazeem N20,000 to register the case.
“IPO Femi told me to get a vehicle, so they could visit the crime scene. I got the vehicle and told him that I was on my way with a small bus, which was a seven-seater.
“IPO Femi said we should go and inform Supol Kazeem, that the vehicle was available, which we did. Supol Kazeem said that he had earlier told me to come with N15,000, I told him the bus I got was cheaper. He said the bus driver should leave with his bus. I begged him for hours, but he said no. I had to pay half of the money to the bus driver because it was already 1:30 p.m.
“Supol Kazeem of D10 Unit SCID PANTI forced me to pay N15,000 for his choice of vehicle, but he didn’t allow me to enter the vehicle. He said I should meet them at the scene of the crime.
“I waited at the bus stop for hours, but he and his men didn’t turn up. Rather, they went to the perpetrator’s place of work, and spent hours there. When they came to my house, their attitude had changed. They spent just a few minutes and then left.
“IPO Femi called me that I should break Femi’s door, the guy the perpetrator was squatting with, and bring his belongings. I told him I couldn’t do it! I told a friend everything because it seemed they were trying to implicate me. He gave me Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Waheed Ayilara, in charge of the SCIID.
“I called him, he told me to come with my daughter, He invited the OC Anti-Trafficking, Supol Kazeem and IPO Femi. He asked what happened, and we narrated our story. The DCP appreciated me for all my efforts. He said he felt bad, that he wanted them to release him initially because they didn’t tell him what happened.
“The DCP said he will never support any form of assault, defilement and rape. He pleaded with my daughter, not to worry that she would get justice. The DCP SCID instructed Supol Kazeem to go and arrest Femi, a friend of the suspect because he refused to heed the police invitation.
“Thereafter the DCP told us to go, that they would call us when they needed us. After three weeks, I didn’t hear from them. I went to the SCIID with a lawyer on Monday 18th September 2023.
“When Supol Kazeem saw me, he was embarrassed and sent me away, saying that I reported him to the DCP SCIID. He took my Lawyer to his office. When my Lawyer came back, he said Supol Kazeem had released the suspect, and that he said we were lying against the suspect.
“He said that the report showed they didn’t touch my daughter. The report showed that they didn’t touch my daughter, my Lawyer asked for the report, and he said we should address a letter to the commissioner of police.
“I went back to the hospital to tell them about the development and also ask questions. Why did they ask me to report the case if nothing happened to my daughter? They said an experienced police officer such as Supol Kazeem D10 couldn’t have uttered such an irresponsible statement. I want justice for my daughter.”
During the visit, the ACVPN Team was warmly received by Ayilara, who also invited the Officer in charge of D10 to be part of the meeting.
During the meeting, the DCP said that there were three processes to achieve criminal justice. He added that the processes would be duly followed, and the truth unravelled.
Ayilara told the delegate that he had zero tolerance for sexual and gender-based violence. He further stated that the police must protect life, and property, and uphold the law on cases of SGBV that pass through his office.
This was even as he appreciated ACVPN for standing for the rights of vulnerable persons.
After the meeting with the DCP, the ACVPN team moved to the OC D10’s office to deliberate on the case of the raped victim, looking at how to work together to achieve justice for the victim.
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
