A 17-year -old Senior Secondary School I student has been gang raped at Ungwan Bawa-Saminaka in Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The victim (name withheld), it was gathered, was with her cousin when six boys attacked the duo.
Her cousin escaped but the victim was unlucky as she was dragged to a riverside where the assailants took turns to rape her.
The suspects’ names have been given as Abubakar Abdul Danjuma, 18; Jamilu Moh’d, 14; Shamsideen Moh’d, 20; Garba Hamisu, 13; Isah Dauda, 17 and Abdul Rasheed Dahiru, 17.
It was gathered that the police have taken the two arrested suspects to the Mohammed Dabo Lere Memorial General Hospital, Saminaka to ascertain their health status.
It was also learnt that the State Police Commissioner, Adamu Ibrahim, has asked the Divisional Police Officer in Saminaka to produce the boys and bring them to Kaduna.
Narrating her ordeal, the victim said: “On Tuesday, April 5, 2016, I was with my cousin, aged 14, a JSS1 student. We were sent to go and buy vegetables for lunch at about 1.00 p.m. On our way, some boys from Unguwan Jumare appeared and started molesting us by touching our breasts forcefully.
“After we put up resistance, my cousin escaped but I was dragged to the bank of a river. They pushed me inside and followed me. I wrestled with them as they struggled to rape me. They closed my mouth in order to prevent me from shouting so as not attract passers-by. Then, they took turns to rape me,” she said.
“Seeing what was happening to me from a distance, my cousin ran home to alert my parents. Some of the boys later left me and stood by the bank of the river. As I managed to go out of the river, they pursued me, tore my clothes and raped me again.”
“On sighting someone who was approaching the scene, they took to their heels. As I managed to walk back home, two of them followed me. One of them raped me while his partner watched out for passersby. As my cousin got home, she narrated the incident to one of our elders, Baba Isa.
Baba Isa followed my cousin to the scene and when the boys saw him, they made attempts to flee but he stopped them. Upon interrogation, the boys told the elder that they were only begging me over what they did to me.
“I could not recognise any of them. It was Baba Isa that recognised them. My dad and Baba Isa reported the case to the vigilante men but they advised that the matter be discussed at their office.
“The boys were arrested and taken to the Divisional Police Headquarters in Saminaka,” the victim added.
It was gathered that the parents of the boys are requesting that the matter be settled outside the police station, but the victim, who claims to be traumatised and stigmatised by her friends, is asking the police to ensure that justice is done.
“I cannot walk freely,” she said, adding: “I have no one to speak for me. They are putting pressure on my parents to forgive them, but I am the victim, not my parents.” (Nigerian Tribune)