Technician arrested in Ogun over alleged rape of minor

A generator technician, Yusuf Adebayo, has been arrested by operatives of the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly defiling a seven-year-old girl (identity undisclosed) in the Ijebu-Ode area of the state.

PUNCH Metro learnt from an interview on Thursday with the victim’s aunt, identified as Odunayo, that the victim had come to her place for the holiday when the incident occurred.

According to Odunayo, on Saturday, while she was preparing to return the victim to her mother’s place, she noticed a catarrh-like stain on the underwear she was washing, prompting her to ask whether she had used it to clean catarrh.

She narrated that the girl said no, and she took her to her mother’s place.

Odunayo narrated that she received a call from her sister the following day, informing her that her daughter disclosed that she had been raped by one of my neighbours and that I should come over.

Odunayo narrated, “On Saturday, I was preparing to return her to her mother’s place, and I was washing her clothes when I observed something like a catarrh stain on her underwear.

“I asked her if she used her underwear to blow catarrh, but she said no. So, I ignored what I saw and took her to her mum’s place. It was the following day that I received a call from my sister that her daughter had been raped at my place.

“They came to my place, and the girl pointed to Mr Yusuf’s door as the room of the person who reportedly raped her.”

Narrating how she discovered that her daughter was allegedly raped, the victim’s mother, identified as Toyin, noted that when her daughter returned from her aunt’s place, she was complaining of stomach pains.

She explained in an interview with our correspondent on Thursday that the pain became intense, and she thought it was a pile, but upon careful examination, she saw a blood stain on her daughter’s private part, prompting her to probe further.

Toyin said that when she probed her daughter further, she disclosed that someone had lain on her where she went for the holiday.

She continued, “When she kept complaining of stomach pains, I examined her and saw the blood stain, and I probed further. It was then that she told me that she had been raped by a man at my sister’s place.

“I told her, and we went to her place, where my daughter pointed to the person’s door. The man and his wife began shouting at us that nothing of such happened, and I was advised to report to the police station.”

She added that the matter was reported at the police station, and they were recommended to a hospital, where it was confirmed that her daughter had been raped.

She noted that following the doctor’s examination, the police in the area proceeded to arrest the suspect.

“When the matter got to the police, they gave us a note to go to the hospital, and the doctor confirmed that my daughter had been raped. The doctor even asked that we come with the person who raped her,” she said.

Meanwhile, both Toyin and Odunayo alleged that some members of a group known as Regberegbe, to which the suspect belonged, had resorted to threatening them to drop the case against the suspect.

They alleged that the group members said they would take traditional steps against them by taking the matter to a deity.

“Some Regberegbe members had come to threaten us that we should drop the matter and that they would take us to Imale (a deity in the area),” Toyin and Odunayo said.

When contacted in a telephone conversation on Thursday, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Babaseyi Oluseyi, confirmed the incident.

Oluseyi noted that the suspect had been arrested and transferred to the Gender and Domestic Violence Unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.

“The suspect has been arrested. He has been to the Gender Unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation,” Oluseyi said.

Our correspondent could not get the reaction of the suspect at the time of filing this report because he was in police custody.