By Esther Onyegbula

LAGOS—Three young   men are currently cooling their heels in one of the dreaded cells of the State criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, Yaba, for allegedly gang-raping a 16-year-old girl (names withheld) at Orile area of Lagos while on her way from school.

The suspects, identified as Sunday Simeon, 18, from Akwa Ibom State; Adebayo Omoniyi, 18, from Ondo State; Nnaemeka Uzodinma, 24, from Imo State and Seyi (surname unknown) who is currently on the run, abducted and gang-raped the victim who is a JSS 3 student on June 23, 2015.

Vanguard learned that the suspects attacked the victim after one of the suspects, Adebayo, took the victim’s phone around Arikeuyo junction while returning from school.

It was gathered that while the victim was struggling with Adebayo, his partners in crime dragged her into a tricycle and took her to No. 15 Unity Close, Orile Iganmu.

It was learned that when they got there, the suspects took off her school uniform and raped her one after the other.

Vanguard gathered that after successfully raping the girl, one of the suspects, Adebayo, suggested to his accomplices that they killed the victim and throw her corpse into the canal, so she would not expose them.

It was gathered that another member of the gang, Seyi, pleaded with them to be cautious with Adebayo’s advice, suggesting that the girl should be threatened rather killed.

Hearkening to Seyi’s advice, it was learned that the suspects threatened to kill her with a cutlass if she ever mentioned to anyone what they did to her.

They were later said to have collected her phone number and rode her back to Alako area at Orile, while Sunday gave her N100 to board a commercial vehicle home.

A family source who spoke to Vanguard on the condition of anonymity said:  “When the girl came back from school, it was obvious that something was wrong as she was walking with difficulty, her uniform torn, she was bleeding because she sustained severe bruises all over her vaginal.

“Her parents who saw her torn uniform and noticed the way she walked asked what happened to her and she told them how she was attacked by four men who raped her on her way back from school.

‘’Immediately, her father took her to Orile Divisional Police station to report the incident.  Fortunately, while she was at the station with her father, the suspects kept calling and threatening to kill her if she told anyone what they did to her.”

Meanwhile, the victim was taken to Ifelodun Ajeromi Government Hospital where she received treatment after a series of test were carried out on her which confirmed that she has been sexually abused.

Vanguard learned that the police advised her to lure the suspects who were calling and threatening her by telling them that she was coming to see them again after school the next day. Unknown to them that it was a trap and that her parents had notified the police, they bought the idea.

At the agreed time, it was learned that she went there with the detectives who succeeded in arresting one of the suspect, identified as Nnaemeka Uzodinma.

His arrest eventually led to the arrest of two others.

It was gathered that the victim’s blood stained pant and the cutlass which was used to threaten her had been recovered from the suspects’ one-room apartment at Orile.

The suspects who are currently being investigated at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba,  would soon be arraigned in court.