Metro

Four Men Gang-rape Schoolgirl For Five Days

Published

3 years ago

July 21, 2022

A 15-year-old teenager, who was allegedly abducted, drugged and raped by four men in the Igando area of Lagos State, has been found.

She was found last Friday, five days after she went missing and a search party was raised by her family.

The victim’s father, Tony, who spoke to PUNCH Metro, said his daughter had just finished sitting her West African Senior Secondary School Examination and was on her way to church when she was abducted.

He said the victim was going to the Saint John Catholic Church, Igando, when four men in a Toyota Camry, who pretended to give her a lift, drove her away.

Tony said the teenager was in the company of her siblings when the incident happened.

He said, “My other children said on their way to church, they greeted the people who were in the car and they asked where they were going and they said church. So, they said they should get in the car that they were also heading in the same direction.

“But after their eldest sister entered the car, they sped off and her other siblings started shouting, ‘Sister, where are you going to?’ Immediately, they wound up the glass and even when she was shouting for help, nobody could hear her.

“After searching for her throughout Monday and Tuesday, I reported a case of a missing person at the Ikotun Police Station and the search for her continued. We posted her picture on different WhatsApp groups until a church member saw the post on Friday and sent us the number plate of the car that was used to abduct my daughter.

“The church member said he saw when my daughter entered the car and he immediately wrote down the number plate of the car, but he didn’t know that she was abducted, adding that he saw the street where the car entered.

“We went to the street, Aiye Omere, Igando. When we got there, we saw the car and my daughter, where she was kept, drugged and was being raped by the four men from Monday till Friday between 4pm and 5pm when we got there.

“My daughter was not herself; the only thing she was able to tell her mother was that they kept drugging and raping her and whenever they were going out, they would drug her and then she would fall asleep until they returned.”

The victim’s father said one of the suspects was identified as Ifeanyi the Great, adding that the police arrested some of the culprits.

He noted that a classmate of the victim who lived on the street where she was violated was also arrested.

“After we found my daughter, we took her to the Igando General Hospital so she could be examined, but she was rejected. They said we should come back on Monday, but a family member told us to go to Mirabel Centre at Ikeja and not wait till Monday.

“I want justice for my daughter. I want all those involved in the abduction, drugging and raping of my daughter to be punished for the violence they committed against her,” he added.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident.

He said, “A case of abduction of a 15-year-old girl who was drugged and raped was transferred from the Ikotun Police Station to the gender unit at the state police headquarters. The outcome of police investigation will determine the next line of action.”

Abduction and rape of teenage girls have been on the increase in the country.

In February 2021, men of the Lagos State Police Command arrested four suspects for gang-raping a teenager in the Ejigbo area of the state.

The suspects, who were also teenagers, allegedly attacked the victim on her way to buy food.

In July 2022, the police in Ogun State also arrested three men for allegedly gang-raping a 15-year-old girl while forcing her into a cult.

The victim was running an errand for her mother when she was waylaid and abducted by the cult members.

The Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, said there was an increase in formal and informal reporting of sexual and gender-based violence.

She said, “In the unfortunate instance where sexual violence occurs, the survivor is encouraged to immediately go to a designated health facility to receive medical attention and counselling.

“The survivor is also encouraged to report the case at a designated police station because these issues are criminal and securing conviction is one of the ways of ending the culture of impunity.”

PUNCH.

Metro

Troops Destroy Bandits’ Camp, Arrest Seven Suspected Cultists In Benue

Published

6 hours ago

November 1, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian Army has intensified coordinated offensives across the North-Central, destroying a major bandits’ hideout in Taraba State and arresting seven suspected cultists in Benue in separate operations under the ongoing security push.

The fresh operations, conducted by troops of 6 Brigade, Jalingo, and Joint Task Force Operation Whirl Stroke, form part of broader kinetic deployments targeting bandits, violent gangs and criminal networks across Taraba, Benue and adjoining corridors.

In Taraba, troops under Operation Lafiya Nakowa conducted an extensive clearance operation on Friday around remote border villages in Takum Local Government Area.

The patrol, which covered Tor-Tser, Kofar Ahmadu, Tornyi, Unom, Mbayongo and Yongogba, followed credible intelligence on the presence of armed groups believed to be plotting attacks and using scattered farmlands as staging points.

According to a Saturday statement issued by the Acting Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, Lieutenant Umar Muhammad, troops received updated intelligence mid-operation that bandits had been sighted around TY Farm in Tati, sparking rapid redeployment.

“Confronted with the troops’ superior firepower, the bandits fled deep into the forest,” the Army said.

The soldiers then discovered and destroyed a major hideout at the farm location, recovering one Dane gun and other items believed to have been used by the fleeing fighters.

The Commander, 6 Brigade and Sector 3 OPWS, Brigadier General Kingsley Chidiebere Uwa, praised the soldiers for their conduct, saying their responsiveness was evidence of improved tactical mobility and renewed operational discipline.

He also reaffirmed the brigade’s resolve to tighten dominance around rural axes vulnerable to ambushes, illegal taxation and night incursions by armed cells.

Uwa urged locals to remain active partners in early-warning, stressing that actionable tip-offs have been critical to recent breakthroughs.

He called for “timely and credible information to aid ongoing operations.”

In a related development, troops of Operation Whirl Stroke carried out a precision raid on a suspected cult base in the North Bank axis of Makurdi, Benue State, an area repeatedly flagged for youth gang violence and drug-use clusters.

The raid, conducted on Thursday, October 30, led to the arrest of seven suspects, believed to be linked to armed robbery, drug activities and cult-linked retaliatory attacks within the state capital.

“During the operation, troops apprehended seven (7) suspected cultists believed to be involved in various criminal activities, including armed robbery, drug abuse, and cult-related violence.

“Items recovered from the hideout include two (2) locally fabricated pistols, one (1) laptop, one (1) cartridge, one (1) round of 7.62mm ammunition, one (1) empty 7.62mm shell casing, one (1) dagger, and several bags containing charms and other incriminating materials,” the statement partly read.

All seven suspects are now in military custody awaiting profiling and handover to relevant investigative agencies.

Force Commander OPWS, Major General Moses Gara, commended troops for their “professionalism, vigilance and resilience,” and directed continuous pressure on splinter gang structures within North Bank and neighbouring university communities.

He also issued a caution to youths, particularly tertiary institution students, warning against the lure of cult group identity.

He urged them to “shun cultism, drug abuse and other forms of criminal behaviour,” stressing the importance of discipline and patriotism.

Gara added that recent security gains will be consolidated, pledging that the Joint Task Force will continue large-area sweeps as part of its mandate to stabilise Taraba–Benue theatre communities.

Both operations came amid renewed concerns about arms trafficking routes linking Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa and border forests stretching into Cameroon.

Metro

Police Bust Kidnap Ring, Rescue 23 Foreigners, Arrest 14 Suspects Near Abuja

Published

19 hours ago

November 1, 2025

Editor

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has dismantled a transnational kidnapping syndicate that demanded N230 million ransom from foreign nationals lured into Nigeria under the guise of lucrative job offers.

Operatives of the command’s Scorpion Squad launched the sting operation around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, at Angwan Adamu Ruga Fulani Zone B, Riverside, Ado Mararaba, Nasarawa State, a border community near Abuja.

Fourteen suspected kidnappers were arrested and 23 foreign nationals rescued in the process.

According to police findings, the victims, all West African nationals, were deceived into travelling to Nigeria by a criminal network posing as employment recruiters.

Upon arrival, the victims were held captive, and the kidnappers demanded ransom from their families via WhatsApp and other online platforms.

FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, said on Friday that investigations identified the ringleader as Abubakar Jigiba, a suspected notorious cross-border criminal with known residences in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali and Nigeria.

The syndicate, she explained, demanded four million CFA francs (about N10 million) per person, a total ransom demand of N230 million.

Adeh confirmed that efforts are ongoing to track down the principal suspect, Abubakar Jigiba, and his brother, Sougule Zoubere, both of whom remain at large.

She said: “In a major breakthrough against kidnapping and human trafficking, operatives of the FCT Police Command’s Scorpion Squad have successfully arrested fourteen (14) suspected kidnappers and rescued twenty-three (23) victims, all foreign nationals, from captivity.

“The intelligence-led operation took place at about 8 p.m. on Tuesday, 21st October 2025, at Angwan Adamu Ruga Fulani Zone B, Riverside, Ado Mararaba, Nasarawa State.

“The operation followed a report indicating that several foreign nationals had been lured into Nigeria under the pretext of lucrative job offers. Upon arrival, they were held hostage by their abductors, who demanded ransom payments from their families via WhatsApp and other online platforms.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the syndicate is coordinated by one Abubakar Jigiba, a transnational criminal kingpin with known residences in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali and Nigeria. His younger brother, Sougule Zoubere, handles the recruitment, kidnapping and smuggling of victims from Mali into Nigeria, where they are detained pending ransom payments. The group demanded four million CFA (N10,000,000) for each victim.

“Further investigations revealed that the victims were trafficked into the country through illegal border routes in a journey lasting about three days. They were subsequently confined in two fortified two-bedroom apartments under inhumane conditions.

“Acting on actionable digital and reconstructive intelligence, the Scorpion Squad traced the hideout to the above address, where a total of twenty-three (23) victims — fourteen (14) males, eight (8) females and one (1) child — were rescued unhurt, except one who sustained a minor ear injury and has been taken to the National Hospital, Abuja, for treatment.”

Metro

Woman Begs Court Not To Grant Husband’s Prayer For Divorce

Published

19 hours ago

November 1, 2025

Editor

A housewife, Fauziya Ibrahim, has begged an Area Court in Ilorin, Kwara State, not to grant her husband, Hamza Musbau’s prayer of divorce.

She told the court that she does not want her marriage dissolved.

“I have been married to my husband for 16 years and I want to remain in this marriage,” she told the court.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN),Earlier, Hamza prayed for divorce on grounds of lack of love and affection.

The judge, Mr Toyin Aluko, said that on the strength of the provisions of the Holy Quran, Almighty Allah allows a wife to seek for settlement, just as divorce is allowed.

He, therefore, advised Fauziya to try her best to make peace and settle any misunderstanding between them.

Aluko adjourned the case.