Five suspects, who posed as businessmen,
have been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly
abducting and gang-raping a woman.
PUNCH Metro learnt that 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.
Our correspondent 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.
Our correspondent gathered that 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 with PUNCH Metro 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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