How I was raped by soldier for 5 hours under a tree — Student

By Ola Ajayi
IBADAN — A 23-year-old National Diploma, ND,
student of Mass Communication Department,
Ibarapa Polytechnic, yesterday, narrated how she
was raped under a tree by one of the security men
attached to Operation Burst set up by Governor
Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State to check criminality in
the state.
The incident was said
to have happened in
Eruwa from 10.30 pm
on August 29 this year
while she was
returning after seeing
off a friend.
She said she was raped
repeatedly for five
hours before she was
let off the hook by the
rapist soldier.
How it happened
According to her, the soldier allegedly ordered her
to climb the motorcycle while threatening to stab
her with a knife.
She said: “It happened on Friday, August 29, 2014. I
was coming back to my room after seeing off a
friend. He accused me of being a cultist for moving
about around that time, but I denied it. He then
ordered me to climb his motorcycle, but I pleaded
with him that he should let me go.
“He removed a knife and said that he would stab me
if I refused to obey him. So scared, I climbed the
Okada and he took me to the Operation Burst office
in Eruwa.
“When we got there, he forcefully led me to a dark
area under a tree and ordered me to remove my
dress to enable him see if I had tattoos on my body.
“I told him I did not have tattoos and that he should
let me go. He then removed the knife again and said
that he would slaughter me like a ram if I failed to
‘cooperate’ and that I would be buried like many
other girls who had failed to cooperate in the past,
and nobody would trace my death to him.
“Sensing danger, I removed my clothes. He ordered
me to lie down under the tree and had sex with me
several times while I was crying.
“He raped me till 3.30 am and I complained of
catching cold. He entered into the office and brought
out a bottle of beer. He gave it to me to hold for him.
“Later he said he was going to bring a blanket for
me to cover my body. I waited for about 30 minutes,
but when he did not return, I dressed up and ran
away.”
Case reported at Police station
The victim’s counsel, Mr. Adeosun, confirmed her
story, saying: “In the morning of Saturday, August
30, 2014, the victim called her parents on the
telephone and told them what happened. It was the
parents that came to brief our office. We thereafter
advised that the victim should report to the Police
Station at Eruwa, which she did.”
When the matter was reported to the security outfit,
the girl identified the rapist among other security
operatives paraded before her.
To worsen her ordeal, the Eruwa General Hospital
where she went for test did not help matter.
According to her, on arrival in the hospital, the
doctor she met told her to buy hand gloves which
she did.
She said: “The doctor told me to lie down and use
his phone torchlight to examine my private part and
wrote a report that although there was no trace of
semen, the private part had been tampered with.”
It was gathered that the doctor claimed he could not
carry out test on the inner part of the vagina
because the hospital did not have the facilities to
carry out such test.
The victim’s lawyer said a soldier called him at 8.25
pm on Sunday informing him that the Army had
commenced court martial trial on the indicted
soldier, but that the student must appear to testify.
Suspect recommended for disciplinary measure
Responding, Special Adviser to the Governor on
Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo, quoted the security
outfit as saying it had recommended the suspect for
disciplinary measure for abandoning his duty post.
In a statement issued by the outfit’s Second in
Command, CSP Elijah Bawa, “immediately the outfit
was informed of the allegation of rape against the
said soldier, he dispatched an investigation team to
Eruwa.
“The team met with the Divisional Police Officer for
the Eruwa Division, DSP Kayode Adigun who
disclosed that the 23-year old Mass Communication
student of the school lodged a complaint with the
command that she had been raped by the soldier
who was also an operative of the anti-crime outfit.
“The outfit’s Second in Command and the DPO took
the complainant to the Eruwa General Hospital for
medical examination, the result of which they said
proved negative.
“The soldier will, however, be charged for
abandoning his duty post in the night without
permission against standing instructions in the
Operation Burst’s code of conduct,” he said.