Man flees after masterminding girlfriend’s gang-rape in Ogun

• Pastor allegedly defiles teenage boy in Lagos
The police in Ogun State have launched a manhunt for a man who allegedly set up his girlfriend to be gang-raped by five men at Elega, a community in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of the state.

The suspect, Abass Ramoni, allegedly fled after the 22-year-old victim (name withheld) reported the incident to the police who arrested three of the suspects. The police spokesperson in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, yesterday said the suspects, Ramoni Yusuf, 24; Abiodun Sikiru, 23; and Moses Oluwasegun, 23; were arrested following a complaint to the Adatan Divisional Headquarters by the victim.

He said the victim reported that she was attacked when she followed her boyfriend, Ramoni, who is now at large, to a social event on January 3 at Elega junction area of Abeokuta, the state capital.

“She stated further that shortly after the carnival at about 2:00a.m. on January 4, 2019, she followed the boyfriend to his residence at No. 11, Osoba Street, Elega, Abeokuta to pass the night. Unknown to her, the boyfriend had arranged four of his friends in his house who suddenly stormed the room and forcefully had carnal knowledge of her one after the other,” Oyeyemi said.

He said the Divisional Police Officer, Oluwadare Joshua, led detectives to the area where three of the suspects were apprehended, adding that the victim was quickly taken to the general hospital where it was confirmed that she was raped.

The Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, ordered a manhunt for the two suspects at large. He also directed that the case be transferred to the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Labor Unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for proper investigation and prosecution of the suspects.

Meanwhile, an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court yesterday ordered that a 44-year-old cleric, Taiwo Opaleke, charged with raping a male teenager, be kept at the Kirikiri prisons. The Magistrate, Mrs. B.O. Osunsanmi, who remanded the cleric, said the court could not take his plea as it needed advice of the state’s director of public prosecutions. She therefore adjourned the case until February 6 for mention.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Opaleke, who resides at Shomolu, Lagos, was charged on a count of defiling a 15-year-old. According to the prosecutor, ASP Ezekiel Ayorinde, the accused committed the offence on December 14 at his residence.

The prosecutor said that the accused sexually assaulted the teenager by penetrating into his anus, in contravention of Section 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. That section prescribes life imprisonment for the offence.

“The accused, who leaves in the same area with the boy, invited him to his church, but the boy refused to go. The accused came to the boy’s house and took him to his house where he forcefully had intercourse with him. The boy told his brother with whom he is staying. His brother reported the case, and the accused was arrested,” the prosecutor said.