A 32-year-old man, Musa Ismail, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly raping his neigbour, Joy (pseudonym) and dispossessing her of property worth N91,500
It was learnt that Ismail lived on Kadiri Street, in the Oniwaya, Agege area of the state, while his gang members ─ Saheed Lawal, Wasiu Ajanaku, and Tayo Inawole ─ resided with the victim on Okunola Street, near Kadiri Street.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the hoodlums gained access to Joy’s apartment around 2am on December 26 after breaking the window, robbing her of three phones valued at N43,500 and a cash sum of N48,000
Done with the operation, Ismail reportedly brought out a knife and ordered Joy, said to be in her mid 20s, to lie down. He was said to have raped her before he fled the building with his gang.
Our correpondent learnt that the robbers had converged on the back of the woman’s window earlier in the evening of the fateful day, smoking cannabis.
She was said to have condemned the act and sent the smokers away, warning them not to gather there again. They were reportedly angered by the jibe and vowed to deal with her.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Joy was able to identify Ismail during the robbery and reported the incident at the Dopemu Police Division, leading to the suspects’ arrest.
A police source told our correspondent that Joy was directed to the Mirabel Centre, which attends to rape victims, adding that a medical test conducted on her confirmed that she was raped.
“The suspects are neighbours of the woman. They had an altercation after she warned them to stop smoking cannabis at the back of her apartment. It was in the night of that day that they burgled her room and one of them raped her,” the source added.
When PUNCH Metro visited the community on Wednesday, Joy was said to have moved out of the house.
A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the gang specifically targeted Joy in the operation as she was the only person robbed that night.
Meanwhile, the suspects were arraigned before an Ogba Magistrates’ Court on three counts bordering on burglary and stealing. Ismail, in addition to the counts, was charged with rape.
The charges read in part, “That you, Musa Ismail, Saheed Lawal, Wasiu Ajanaku and Tayo Inawole, on December 26, 2015, at about 2am on Okunola Street, Oniwaya, Agege, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did break into the room of one Joy and stole one BlackBerry phone valued at N25,000, a Techno handset worth N15,000, one Nokia phone valued at N3,500 and a cash sum of N48,000.”
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the offences.
The magistrate, Mrs. T. Akanni, admitted Ajanaku, Inawole and Lawal to bail in the sum of N200,000, while Ismail was granted bail in the sum of N250,000 with two sureties each in like sum.
The case was adjourned till January 25, 2016.
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