- Pregnant woman raped, hacked to death by unknown assailants
F resh facts have emerged about the recent nocturnal attack on the family of Mr. Kazeem Yusuf by some yet-to-be identified persons in Isasi, Ikorodu, Lagos, which left his pregnant wife dead. And along with their two daughters, Opeyemi and Rodiat, he now lies fatally injured in a hospital.
Yusuf and his family were attacked at about 1am in their room at the Isasi area of Oluwoye Community, Ibese town, Igbogbo, Ikorodu by unknown persons.
Our correspondent gathered that the attack on the family might have been a retaliation against Yusuf for allegedly snatching his wife from a rival in his former location in Ajegunle before relocating with the woman and her child from a previous marriage to Ikorodu two years ago.
It was also learnt that the pregnant woman, who was expecting her first child for Yusuf, was raped by the assailants before they hacked her to death and left her husband and their two children seriously injured.
Kazeem who is a bus driver, according to findings, was alleged to have taken over a rival’s wife in the Ajegunle area of Lagos before he eloped with the woman and sought refuge in Ibese area of Ikorodu.
A resident of the area, who pleaded anonymity, told our correspondent, “He is still in the General Hospital, where he was admitted. He cannot talk yet. He is just responding to treatment. The family members are yet to surface, but there was only one woman who said she doesn’t know much about him.
“The only issue I suspect may have led to this, if not the usual Badoo boys, is a matter that has to do with him (Yusuf) snatching that woman from someone in Ajegunle before he ran down to Ibese with her to settle down.”
The resident further said, “The two little girls that were also injured are not completely owned by the man and the woman. The first girl, Opeyemi, was brought by the woman from her former husband, while the second girl, Rodiat, belongs to the former wife of the man. The two girls were severely wounded in the scene. The woman died in the attack carrying the first pregnancy she had for the man.”
A neighbour to the victims, Mr Basiru Akanbi, told our correspondent that the other occupants of the house, who would have risen to help the victims from their attackers when they heard noise coming from their room, had thought that the family was only having their usual noisy prayers.
Akanbi said that since the family was in the habit of wailing and shouting while praying, other tenants had concluded that their cries for help while the attack was on were their usual manner of praying.
“Actually, I cannot say much on the case because on that day I was tired and slept early because I did night duty at work. But the little I can say is that my wife woke me in the midnight that she was hearing Baba Ope’s voice crying for help. But I told her to go back to sleep because that was the usual habit of the man. He cries whenever he is praying. There was a day I went to his door to ask what was happening, when I heard him crying, only for me to discover that he was only praying.
“When my wife told me that he was crying in the midnight for help, I was not bothered and I told her to go and sleep, thinking he was saying his prayer while crying, as usual. But to my greatest shock, when I was bathing in the morning, my wife and one of our neighbours came to me, shouting that Baba Ope and his wife had been killed in their room. I quickly rushed out of the bathroom almost naked to their room, and I saw all of them, including the little girls in a pool of blood. When we discovered that the man and kids were still alive, I quickly rushed them to the General Hospital for immediate treatment,” he said.
The only issue i suspecT may have led To This, if noT The usual Badoo Boys, is a maTTer ThaT has To do wiTh him (yusuf) snaTching ThaT woman from someone in ajegunle Before he ran down To iBese wiTh her To seTTle down
Basiru added that Yusuf and his family moved into the house about two years ago. He also confirmed that the couple moved down to Ikorodu from the Ajegunle area of Lagos, where they were living.
“I’m not aware if the man snatched the woman from someone in Ajegunle before they moved down here about two years ago, but they once told me that they came here from the Ajegunle area of Lagos. But the only thing that I always ponder about is that their relations rarely visit them here. People rarely come and look for them. At least, I can say I only know two of their relations,” he said.
Meanwhile, some residents of Ibese area of Ikorodu have linked the deadly attack on the Yusuf family with members of the notorious cult group terrorising the community, the Badoo.
A suspected member of the deadly cult group in the area was released from detention recently by the police.
One of the residents of Ibese community, Akin Joshua, told our correspondent, “The havoc was wreaked by no other people than the Badoo cult boys.
“It happened around 1am, when a group of people suspected to be Badoo attacked this family. They had easy entry into the family’s room because the house does not have burglar proof.
“And when they discovered that some Oduaa Peoples Congress operatives were in the area, they disarmed one of them that was in a house next to the victims’ house and wounded him. It was after then that they raped and killed the woman, left her husband wounded and cut their daughters’ ears.”
Our correspondent also learnt that inspite of the frequent visit of police operatives to the community before and after the incident, residents have been living in fear.
Some of the residents have even been moving out of the community.
The matter has been brought before the Ipakodo Police Station for further investigation.
The Lagos Command Police Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident.
Badmos, a superintendent of police, disclosed that police investigation was ongoing to unravel the perpetrators of the crime.
“We are aware of the case and investigative work has commenced to make sure that perpetrators are brought to book,” she said.
As at the time of filing this report, our correspondent learnt that Yusuf, who fell into a comma after the incident, was responding to treatment at the Ikorodu General Hospital.
