Some armed robbers who specialize in robbing and r*ping Lagos residents have been caught by the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad in the state.
The four-man gang identified as Sunday John (27), Daniel Olayemi (18), Saviour Daniel (23), and Abdulwahab Yusuf (17) were arrested around Charity bus stop, in the Oshodi area of Lagos.
According to Punch, the police had spotted Olayemi fighting a member of a rival gang over a stolen phone and had apprehended him. A police source said, “Some of our detectives saw him fighting another man over a Samsung Tablet on Tuesday afternoon.
“When he was arrested, he confessed that he stole the phone from a woman that they gang-raped during one of their operations at Charity bus stop.
“That information prompted an early morning raid on the bus stop the next day. The gang leader, John, was arrested around 5.38am in company with two gang members.”
While making confessional statement to the police, Olayemi said: “We were always operating at Charity bus stop from 4am to 5.40am. Our last operation was on a woman of about 57-year-old. She was passing by the bus stop when I snatched her handbag and disappeared into the bush.
“I came out of the bush only to see three of my gang members having s*x with her. I hid the best of the three phones I found on her. I later told other members of the gang that I saw two small phones and N8,000 in her bag.
“We had in a similar operation a few days before that, raped a woman in her 40s at the same spot when we didn’t see any valuable in her bag. We took turns to rape her and then allowed her to go.”
He explained that the gang leader, John, always dragged the victims into the bush before asking them to take turns to rape the women. Daniel, who is also among the gang members said they were always forced to rape their victims by John. He claimed to have raped only three of the victims.
“I didn’t participate in all the rapes. I was only involved on three occasions. John was the one who dragged them into the bush and undressed them. Whenever he was exhausted, he would order us to take our turns as well,” he said.
The gang leader, John, said they had raped nine women in the last two weeks, adding that their ages range from 27 to 57. The Akwa Ibom indigene said there were three other gangs in the area which operated at night.
He said, “While our primary aim is to steal valuables, we rape our victims most of the time after robbing them.
“After robbing the ladies, I drag them into a nearby bush where we rape them.
“About two weeks ago, we had robbed a 24-year-old lady that I carried into the bush. We all took turns on her before my gang members ran away. They took all she had on her.
“When they were gone, her dress was messed up. I took her to where she cleaned up, bought her a pair of slippers and gave her N500 for transport fare to Iyana Ipaja.
“Most of those we raped were between 24 years to late 50s. Like a woman we raped last Sunday; she was in her late 50s.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the suspects were cooperating with the police.
She said, “The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba. They will be charged to court at end of investigations. Meanwhile, efforts are on to apprehend other criminals in the area.”
