How I was kidnapped, raped for rejecting love advances – UNILAG student

BY EVELYN USMAN
LAGOS — Policemen attached to Adeniji Adele division have arrested a 22-year-old man who alleged kidnapped and raped a student of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, Akoka, for turning down his advances.

The suspect, Babajide Bashorun, was also alleged to have taken nude shots of his victim (names withheld) and pasted them on the internet with her real name, school, department and age.

 The victim with bruises

But the suspect in an interview with Vanguard claimed that the lady was his girlfriend. He admitted to have taken her nude pictures and gave them to his friends whose identities he gave as Aje Mayowa and Babajide Ademuyiwa, both final year students of  Architecture also of UNILAG.

The incident, as gathered, occurred two months ago at 1, Ajose Street,  Enu-Owa area of Lagos Island.  But the female undergraduate was silent over the matter until her relations abroad who stumbled on the nude pictures on the internet contacted her mother in Nigeria, last week.

How it started

Narrating how the incident occurred, the female undergraduate said: “Babajide  came to our house to treat our dog. In the process, he requested  for my phone number and I reluctantly gave him. He started calling me and told me he would like to go out with me.

“But I told him I already had a boyfriend whom I loved. Yet, he kept calling me, saying he was not interested in just going out with me but wanted to  marry  me. Aside that, he kept monitoring my movements and at a point, I deleted his contact on my phone.

“I was returning home for a weekend in April , a car stopped by my side at Idumota bus-stop. Jide was sitting beside a driver who was unknown to me.

“On sighting him, I walked past. But the next thing he did was to hold me by the hand, dragged me into the car and drove to his house.

“When he got home, he started beating me and tore my clothes, asking what  I wanted that he could not give me. He instructed me to unlock my phone and when he discovered that I used my boyfriend’s name as password, he resumed the beating.

“At a point, he gave me his phone to speak with some of his friends who told me I was in for trouble, for turning down a member of their unnamed cult, threatening that they would kill me for treating him shabbily.

“Thereafter, he raped me and when he was done, his friend took his turn despite my plea. When he saw I was bleeding, he stopped and started begging me. At that point, he brought out  his phone and started taking my nude pictures.  I made attempt to cover my face but he hit me on the head with a bottle and continued taking the shots.

How I escaped

“I begged him to allow me call my mother to give him some money for my release but he refused. I also appealed to him to delete my pictures when he started begging me.

“I stayed in that room all night till the next day when he went out to get me some drugs. Immediately he stepped out, I tried the door and discovered it was  not locked from outside. I quickly changed into one of my dirty clothes in my bag and escaped.

“But I could not tell anyone at home. When my elder brother asked what the problem was on seeing the blood stained clothes, I told him I was involved in  an accident and when my mother insisted on knowing what the problem was, I told her I fought with a course mate. She insisted on going to school with me on seeing the magnitude of the injury but I prevented her.

“Barely had I settled down than Babjide called, threatening to kill me if I disclosed what happened to anyone. As if that was not enough, his friends also called and threatened me as well.”

She is my girlfriend — Suspect

However, on his part, Babjide claimed that the undergraduate was his girlfriend, adding that they only had a fight on that fateful day.

Expressing shock over his arrest, he said: “She is my girlfriend. We only fought in April and have resolved the matter.

“What led to the fight was her request for money to buy an IPad which cost over N100,000. Because of my love for her, I managed to raise N70,000. She visited me on that day and I advised her to change her way of living which included going  to club .

I also accused her of flirting with other men. Along the line, we started fighting and I used a mop stick to hit her and in the process , took shots of her and sent the pictures to my friends. But I did not tell them to paste the pictures on the internet.”

Police sources hinted that efforts were on to arrest Mayowa and Ademuyiwa alleged to have pasted the victim’s  nude pictures on the internet, while  Babajide had been charged to court  for kidnapping, rape, conspiracy, attempt to commit murder, indecent assault, and assault occasioning harm.