Another teenager raped, killed in Ibadan

• 17-year-old hawker attacked, ganged-raped in market
• Grandfather in court for allegedly raping minor in Osun

In less than 72 hours after Uwaila Omozuwa, a 22-year-old 100-Level student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), was raped inside a church and died in a hospital hours later, another incident has occurred in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

This time round, it was at Akinyele Local Government Area of the ancient city of Ibadan, where some yet-to-be identified robbers reportedly raped an 18-year-old lady, Barakat Bello, to death in her home on Monday evening.

She had gone to the bathroom, bathing when she heard a noise close to their house, and subsequently, she left the bathroom built separately from the house to check what was the happening.

It was while walking towards the house she realised it was robbers that broke into the compound, and as they saw her approaching, before she could flee, the robbers attacked and strangled her, then took turn to rape her after which she was stabbed to death.

It is a moment of grief for the family of Kasimu Elepo left to mourn the death of their daughter, Barakat. Barakat was a year one student at the Institute of Agriculture, Research and Training, Ibadan.

Father of the deceased, Elepo, said that he was not at home when Barakat was killed, adding that the deceased’s sister was also not around at the time the incident happened. According to him, the victim’s sister found Barakat’s body at the back of the house in a pool of her blood when she returned from Quaranic lessons that fateful day.

He said: “The younger sister saw her at the back of the house with deep cuts all over her body. She had been raped and killed. Somebody called me on the phone that I should come home but he refused to tell me what happened. When I got home, I saw that my daughter had been raped and stabbed to death.”

Elepo, who could not contain his emotions, revealed that the police in the area had begun an investigation into the matter. However, there are multiple versions of the story, a Twitter user, @DrOlufunmilayo hinted that suspected armed robbers invaded Barakat’s home to steal and in the process, raped and killed her.

“They raped her. They also killed her. She has now been buried today (Tuesday). How many more girls need to die this way? #JusticeforBarakat. We cannot continue this way. The government cannot continue to look away and ignore these murders. This is insane.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo command, Olugbenga Fadeyi, said the police had launched an investigation to arrest the perpetrators of the act, calling on the members of the public to give the agency credible information.

Fadeyi said: “The matter was just reported this morning (Wednesday). For the past three days, they just made the report. There was no official report initially. With the report made, the police had swung into action and we are currently in search of the hoodlums.

Also, a 17-year-old girl has been ambushed and gang-raped by three armed boys, suspected to be street urchins in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital. It was learnt that the teenager was hawking sachet waters and soft drinks at about 7:00 p.m. on Monday when she was attacked at the popular Oja’ba market in Ado-Ekiti metropolis.

She was later taken to an undisclosed hospital for treatment after which the incident was reported to the Ekiti Police Command and Office of the Wife of Ekiti State Governor, Mrs. Erelu Fayemi. When contacted, the Ekiti State Police Public Relations Officer, Sunday Abutu, confirmed the incident, saying two suspects have been arrested in connection with the gang rape.

Meanwhile, a Magistrate’s Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State yesterday ordered the remand of a grandfather, Moses Oloko, for allegedly defiling and raping a minor serially in the state.

Police prosecutor, ASP Adegoke Taiwo, told the court that the defendant, aged 57, committed the offence on May 25, at about 10:30am at Oke-Mission area in Ejigbo. He further explained that the defendant did unlawfully and indecently assault the victim, aged 12, by having carnal knowledge of her for more than ten times.

Adegoke also alleged that Oloko sexually exploited the minor after offering her N100.