Confession of a rapist: We raped her because she was cheating on our friend (Page 7)

A young lady was allegedly raped by her boyfriend and four of his friends for being unfaithful to him. She was forced to surrender after he (the boyfriend) reportedly pointed a gun at her. TOYOSI OGUNSEYE spoke with some of the suspects

IT may be difficult for Yinka (surname withheld) to trust again. And this feeling will not be limited to close friends; even acquaintances may get a dose of her distrust.

The reason for this is not far-fetched: she had not been in good terms with her boyfriend, Gbenga, alias MOPOL, for a while, so, she pleaded with some of his friends to follow her to his place and beg him on her behalf.

The music however changed when they got there. Gbenga and his friends that she went with allegedly gang raped her after her boyfriend threatened her with a locally made pistol.

Their grouse was that she had been unfaithful to him. This happened on March 27, 2009. Two days after, she summoned courage and reported the matter to the Olosan Police Station, Mushin, Lagos.

She told the police how they took turns to segxwally harass her with some of them molesting her twice.

Two of the suspects, Opeyemi Akande and Kehinde Oba, were arrested while the prime suspect, Gbenga, is still at large.

The Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Frank Mba, told our correspondent that though Yinka’s parents had said they were not interested in taking up the matter legally, the police would press charges against them.

He said, ”They won‘t go scot-free and I hope it will serve as a deterrent to others. It is none of our business if Yinka’s parents are pulling out of the matter. The Divisional Police Officer has forwarded their case file to the legal department.”



‘I RAPED HER’

Name: Opeyemi Akande

Age: 39

Occupation: Commercial motorcyclist

Marital status: Married

Wife‘s age: 23

No of children: Three, two boys and a girl, the oldest being 14

Did you rape Yinka?

Yes, I raped her.

Why?

Before the day that incident happened, Gbenga introduced Yinka to me as his girlfriend. I told him that other guys had introduced her to me as their girlfriend. Gbenga said her parents knew him very well.

He called Yinka‘s father in my presence that day and asked him if he was at home. Gbenga took six of us to her father‘s house and the man entertained us with drinks. When we left the house, Gbenga told us that he took us there to show us that he was very familiar with Yinka‘s family.

Gbenga felt bad that the lady was not treating him well despite the fact that he was spending a lot of money on her. He put her in a salon to learn the trade and was feeding her every day.

He also told me that he was giving her father N1, 000 every three days. In Yinka‘s family, they saw Gbenga as their son-in-law. He felt bad that all the money he was spending was in vain because Yinka did not appreciate it. In fact, it was because of her, that Gbenga‘s first wife left him with their children and the same Yinka was misbehaving.

So that night, Gbenga called me and said that he wanted to see me. I went to see Gbenga with Kehinde and Yinka (a male). When we got there, Gbenga said it was late and that we should all go and sleep in Ilupeju and return to our respective homes the following day.

Gbenga sat on my motorcycle, while Yinka sat on Kehinde‘s motorcycle. We branched at a supermarket and bought what we were going to eat. When we almost got to Ilupeju, Gbenga said we should park our motorcycles because he wanted to discuss with us.

Kehinde, Gbenga and I left Yinka on one part of the road and went to discuss in one corner. Gbenga told us that he felt very hurt that Yinka was cheating on him and that he was going to deal with her. When we got to where we were going, Gbenga and the lady went to the back yard. I know that apart from Gbenga, two other guys slept with her that night. When they finished, Gbenga came to call me that Yinka wanted to see me.

When I entered the room, the girl was naked. She knelt down and was begging me not to tell anyone that she had been raped by Gbenga and some of his friends. I told her that I was not going to tell anyone. She held me and started touching my body. My body moved and I slept with her. Before I entered the room – it wasn‘t even a room – it was more or less like an open space, Gbenga gave me a condom and I used the condom when I was sleeping with Yinka.

Are you telling me that you slept with her with her consent or you raped her?

I raped her but she did not resist.

Where did you get the gun that Yinka was threatened with?

I don‘t know anything about the gun; it belongs to Gbenga.



‘I DIDN’T RAPE HER’

Name: Kehinde Oba

Age: 22

Occupation: Commercial motorcyclist

Marital status: Married

Wife’s age: 18

No of children: Two children: four and two-years-old.

Did you rape Yinka?

No, I didn‘t. After Opeyemi slept with her, they called me but I told them that I wasn‘t interested. I told them to leave her because she is a useless girl. I did not join them in molesting her.

What happened that night she was gang-raped?

She came to our park and told me to take her to her boyfriend, Gbenga MOPOL, because he was going to beat her. She came to me because Gbenga is my very good friend. I was also very familiar with her because she was dating five commercial motorcyclists in our park at Kumuyi, Mushin.

When we got to where Gbenga was, he delayed us because he was discussing park politics with some people. The election in our park is coming up very soon and Gbenga wants to be vice-president. By the time they finished, it was around 10.30 pm, Gbenga said I should sleep at Mushin and return to my house the following day. Gbenga then said we should all go to Ilupeju to sleep that night. He said Yinka should sit on my motorcycle and we drove to a company in Ilupeju.

When we got there, Opeyemi and I sat in the main building while Gbenga and Yinka went to the boy‘s quarters. When I asked Gbenga if he was not taking Yinka home, he told me that he would speak with her father. Two days later, policemen arrested me because Yinka said I raped her. I did not rape her.

Yes and No