'I Begged Him to Use a Condom, but He Refused' - Woman Raped By Lagos DPO
A 31-year-old cook, Idowu Akinwunmi, has narrated how the Divisional Police
Officer in charge of Onikan Station, SP Adekunle Awe, allegedly raped,
extorted and threatened her life. The victim told PUNCH Metro that
the incident occurred on April 15, 2014, a day after she was arrested by the
police for “spurious” reasons. She said:
“I work at an eatery on Keffi Street, Obalende, as a cook. The eatery also has
a tailor’s shop in the compound and it belongs to the same person. There is
also a quarters where we all live in the compound. Most of the workers are
from Cotonou, Benin Republic. On Monday, a popular customer, known as Friday,
came to eat. He later left, but some moments later, he returned to say he
could not get a bus home. Friday had been making advances at me, but we were
not a couple. I allowed him to sleep over.”
Akinwunmi said around 1am, her boss, who discovered that someone was sleeping
over, called the police to arrest her and Friday. She said two other people,
who slept over at the tailors’ quarters were also rounded up. She continued:
“My madam called policemen to arrest all of us. I had only a pair of
shorts, a shirt and a wrapper on. I had N11, 000 in my pocket and my phone was
not with me. On getting to the station, I got the phone of a policewoman and
used it to call one of the tailors to come and help. In the morning of
Tuesday, two tailors, Ben and Matthias, arrived to bail out their friends, but
they were also arrested, bringing our total number to six.”
The victim said a few hours later, she felt sticky and pleaded with a
policewoman on duty to allow her have a bath. She said she could not use the
shower because it was too filthy, adding that on her way out, she met the DPO
for the first time. She said:
“I met the DPO along the corridor. He asked me what happened and I explained
everything to him. Around 10pm on Tuesday, the DPO sent a policeman to call
Friday and I. I was wearing boxers and a top. I stayed at the counter and
Friday went in to see the DPO. A few minutes later, Friday came out and the
DPO called me in. The DPO said he could make sure that I spent the rest of my
life in jail, but I begged him. He then came close to me and started rubbing
his hands all over my body but I rejected his advances. He said my boss had
told him that he could do whatever he wanted to do with me. He said since I
was from Benin Republic, if he killed me, nothing would happen.
He said he would also make sure that the remaining five suspects would be sent
to prison. At this point, the DPO had already taken off his clothes. Since I
was afraid for my life, I allowed the DPO to have his way. I begged him to use
a condom, but he refused. He pushed me to a smaller room in his office and put
me on the bed and had sex with me. Immediately after he had finished, he told
me to shower in a bathroom inside his office.”
The mother of two told PUNCH Metro that the DPO promised to ensure
that she was released the next morning and ordered a policeman to take her
back into the cell. Akinwunmi said when she returned to the cell, she cried
through the night. She said the following morning, she told some female police
officers about the incident. She said when her people came to bail her from
the station, the DPO asked one Inspector Taiwo to bring her to his
office.
“The DPO gave me his telephone number and asked for mine, but I didn’t give it
to him. He then said I could leave and promised that no one would collect bail
money from us. However, on getting to the counter, the policemen on duty
collected N30, 000 from us,” she said.
Punch's correspondent learnt that the victim immediately went to the Lagos
Island Maternity Clinic to do a test. A copy of the medical report, signed by
one Dr. R. A. Seriki, stated:
“A complaint of sexual assault: General clinical condition satisfactory; no
laceration, no bruises, no areas of hyperemia, negative for HIV 1 and 2,
pregnancy negative. Has been placed on PEP and emergency contraception.”
The matter was said to have been reported at the Area A Police Command, Lion
Building, after which the Area Commander, ACP Imohimi Edgal, invited the
victim for interrogation. PUNCH Metro learnt that the matter had been
transferred to the office of the Commissioner of Police.
The Director, Project Alert on Violence Against Women, Dr. Josephine
Effah-Chukwumah, urged the police to handle the matter seriously. She said:
“The fact that there were no bruises does not mean that rape did not occur.
The moment there is a direct threat to life on the condition of sex, the
offence is rape. It is unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria has petitioned the National
Human Rights Commission over the alleged rape of Akinwunmi.The petition, dated
April 16 2014 and signed by NOPRIN’s National Coordinator, Mr. Okechukwu
Nwagunma, read in part:
“We were informed that she (Akinwunmi) was detained in the cell…“She said that
Awe forcefully had carnal knowledge of her without protection after which he
threatened to send her to prison.”
The petition added that Akinwunmi was released after some policemen at the
Onikan police station had extorted money from her. It was gathered that
the Police Service Commission had received copies of the petition, while the
Lagos Office of the NHRC had been directed to investigate the complaint. When
contacted, the Special Adviser to the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Mr.
Henry Obe, said:
“Yes we received a petition concerning the rape of a woman by a Lagos DPO.“The
case was forwarded to the NHRC Lagos office today for investigation.”
When Awe was contacted, he denied the allegation, saying it was all
falsehood. He said:
“That allegation is totally false; I am aware of it. But I cannot talk now
because I am driving. I am on my way to the Lagos Police Command. I will call
you when I am through.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, could not be
reached for comment. Calls made to her phone were not answered. Also text
messages sent to the phones were not responded to as of the time of going to
the press by 9pm.
Source- Punch.
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