10th August, 2016
Three young men who allegedly gang-raped a 20-year-old undergraduate in the Agege area of Lagos, will on Thursday face trial before a Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.
Mrs Vivour Adeniyi, the Coordinator, Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT), made this known in a statement in Lagos on Wednesday.
Adeniyi said that the crime, which was initially reported at Isokoko Police Station, was perpetrated on Aug. 2 in a hotel located in the Agege area.
According to him, on Aug. 2, a case of rape was reported to us, the survivor (the rape victim) is a model and a student.
“She met a lady on the Instagram who goes by the name Vanessa with the profile name Veevee Love.
“The survivor and the person she met on the social media started chatting and they both exchanged contacts.
“Vanessa claimed she was a university graduate and intends to start a clothing line and, therefore, will like to work with the survivor.
“According to the survivor, the lady calls her from time to time to discuss business and personal issues.
“Three weeks ago, Vanessa invited the survivor over to meet her parents before they could seal the business deal; she then agreed to go, based on the friendship they had established,” Adeniyi said.
She said that on the day of the incident, the survivor went to the address given to her and a gateman was sent to bring her in.
Adeniyi said, “She suspected the house was not a residential immediately she entered the compound but has no reason to doubt her new found friend.
“As she climbed the stairs, three guys pushed her roughly into a room and increased the Television volume. It was then she realised that she had been chatting with a guy pretending to be a lady.
“The three guys battered her and raped her in turns after which she was told to provide N2 million before she could be released, she called some friends and was able to get N50, 000.
“She was held hostage from 12.00 p.m to 7.00 p.m.
“She earlier reported the incident to Area `F` police station, but not much was achieved. She then went to Mirabel Centre, which referred her to DSVRT.
“DSVRT intervened immediately by referring her to Family Support Unit of Isokoko Police Station, requesting that the case be transferred from Area `F’ for proper investigation and prosecution.
“On Aug. 8, DSVRT received a call from the policemen that the perpetrators had been arrested after the police raided the hotel used to perpetrate this criminal act.”
Adeniyi said that the victim was able to identify the three suspects who raped her, amidst the five men that were arrested in the hotel.
“The perpetrators confessed that they had no girl in their team and that it was one of them that used the magic voice app,” she said.