A suspected rapist, identified only as Tomiwa, aka Tommy, has escaped from the custody of the Sango-Ota Police Division, Ogun State.
The whereabouts of the suspected rapist,
who was said to have escaped from the police custody on March 12, was
still unknown as of Thursday, April 7.
Tomiwa and his gang members were reportedly notorious for rape and stealing in the Igbala Community of Sango-Ota.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Tomiwa,
who had been on the run after he and his members gang-raped a girl in
the area, was brought to the station by some youths on March 12.
He was said to have escaped from the police station on the same day while he was being taken to a cell.
Their correspondent, however, gathered
that Tomiwa’s accomplices – Dekunle Lawal, Wale Alore, Sunday Salako,
Peters Apata, Oyetunde Tolulope and one Ojere – were with the police,
while one Rafiu and Umoru were at large.
A resident of the community, who did not
want his name in print for fear of being hunted, said some policemen at
the divison had frustrated efforts to rid the area of miscreants by
releasing suspects whenever they were arrested.
He said, “The gang usually ambushed
residents going to work at 5am, snatched their bags and raped them. A
lot of girls have moved out of this community. We have arrested the
suspects more than seven times and took them to the station, but the
officers would collect money and release them.
“They are so confident that whenever we
threaten them with police, they will say they will come back if they are
arrested. They have been threatening our lives. Three weeks ago, they
waylaid another 18-year-old girl while returning from work in the
evening and raped her. We took Dekunle (Lawal), Tomiwa and Owolabi to
the station two weeks ago as regards the incident. Tomiwa fled the
station, while the two others were later released.”
It was learnt that the Area Commander of
the Sango Area Command ordered that the miscreants be rearrested after
the community petitioned the state Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid
Ali.
The petition, signed by a community
elder, Pastor Ajayi Ibikunle, read in part, “They (suspects) always
challenge ladies residing in the community and visitors coming into and
going out of the community without any cause, be it early in the morning
when people are going to work or at night when people are coming back
from work.
“They snatch bags, rob people of their
valuables and at the same time they rape ladies. These young men have
gangs around the Alishiba, School 3 and Joju areas. They smoke and sell
hemps.”
A victim, Joy, said she was returning
home from a factory, where she worked when the gang attacked her. She
said they collected her phone and salary before three of them took turns
to rape her.
She said a policewoman assigned to
investigate the case at the division demanded N20,000, adding that she
let go of the case when she was insulted by the officer.
She said, “The IPO was one Martinda, and
she told me to report back whenever I saw those guys. Around 1pm one
day, I rushed back to the station and informed her, but she told us to
raise N20,000 for their arrest.
“We later met with some other policemen
there and they collected N2,000 after much pleading. We left the station
around 3pm, but by the time we got to where I saw them, they had fled. I
had forgone the matter until yesterday (Wednesday) when some of the men
that raped me were arrested.”
A youth leader in the community, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, urged the police to ensure that the
suspects were prosecuted and the fleeing members arrested.
He said, “I want the police to charge
them to court and ensure that they are duly prosecuted. They have been
influencing younger ones negatively.”
The Ogun State Police Command Public
Relations Officer, DSP Muyiwa Adejobi, said the suspects would be
transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the command for further
investigation and assured the residents that the community would be
“sanitised.”
He said, “The suspects were arrested for
different offences, including rape, stealing and breach of the peace.
But no suspect escaped from the station. The residents should rest
assured that the community and others would be sanitised from hoodlums
terrorising the areas. The suspects will be charged to court after
investigation.”
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