- They also poured hot pepper, kerosene on me – Victim
The Police have arrested no fewer than six residents of Ikija Street in the Shomolu area of Lagos for allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old girl, Ikmat Adewale, who they had accused of stealing the sum of N1500.
The arrested suspects, including Famuyiwa Gbolahan, Adesanya Adewole, Adesanya Bukola, Adesanya Adedayo, Saka Mariam and Funmilola Osuntayo, were alleged to have assaulted the teenager by tying her neck and legs to a pole for over four hours.
According to a source, the suspects had earlier poured kerosene on the teenager in an attempt to set her ablaze over the alleged theft.
Our correspondent gathered that trouble began for the suspects when a neighbour to the victim, one Dayo Adesanya, alerted others that Ikmat had stolen her money. Dayo and her mother had also allegedly instigated other residents of the house to assault the teenager.
A resident, Lateef Kolawole, alleged that the residents must have assaulted the teenager because of an earlier disagreement with her mother.
“There is more to what happened to that girl. I suspect those people are not in good relationship with Alhaja (victim’s mother) and they want to deal with her daughter. When I was informed about the incident that Baba Abbey and others tied Ikmat to a pole for stealing money, I found it difficult to believe and so I quickly rushed down there. Before I got there, one woman had untied her. I saw several lacerations on her body. Also, the lacerations on her neck showed she was actually tied by the neck. The rope used to tie her left lacerations around her neck,” Kolawole said.
Another resident of the area, Mrs. Rukiat Odunsi, said, “The residents unjustly punished the teenager because her parents were not at home at the time of the incident. If Alhaja were to be at home, who would try such a thing? These people made the girl go through torture like a hardened criminal. Even if they caught her with the money, does that mean they should take laws into their hands? In fact, the money they were looking for was later found inside their room. I think police should not let this issue go like that.”
On her part, the victim, Ikmat, told our correspondent, “I was tied with rope and they asked someone to buy grinded pepper. The grinded pepper was mixed with water and poured on my body. When the torture was too much, I had to lie against myself so that I could be released.
“I was eating when Aunty Dayo called me to help her to plait her hair, but I told her I would attend to her when I was through with my food. Immediately I finished my food, I rushed into her room for what she called me for, but on getting there, I didn’t meet her. On my way out of her room, I met her in the passage coming in. But to my surprise, she started shouting that a thief had entered her room and had stolen her mother’s N1500.
“Immediately, Aunty Dayo and her mother alerted the other neighbours and they also called some guys to beat me up. They poured kerosene on me and threatened to burn me alive. While they were beating me, Baba Abbey came and said I was the one that stole his money some months ago. And he brought a rope with which they tied my legs. Also, Mummy Feranmi brought a rope with which they tied my neck. They both tied me to a pole for four hours until an old woman came to my rescue.”
The teenager also said that since the incident, the residents of the house had labelled her a thief.
Our correspondent confirmed the arrest of the suspects at the Alade Police Division in Shomolu.
The Shomolu Coordinator of Child Protection Network, Comrade Oluwatoyin Okanlawon, vowed that the suspects would be made to face the full wrath of the law.
“I heard that some people have been pressurising the police to drop the case. We will not back out on this case. We will ensure justice is done to this teenager. I have been following the case and we will ensure that the justice is not perverted,”
he said.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Chike Oti, said, “Investigation will be conducted into the case, while the suspects, if found guilty, will be prosecuted.”
