Posted on: 05:22 Fri, 18 Apr 2014




A 31-year-old cook, Idowu Akinwunmi, has narrated how the
Divisional Police Officer in charge of Onikan Station, SP
Adekunle Awe, allegedly r*ped, extorted and threatened her
life.
The victim told PUNCH Metro that the incident occurred on
April 15, 2014. She explained that on April 14 she was
arrested by the police for “spurious” reasons.
She said, “I work at an eatery on Keffi Street, Obalende, as a
cook. The eatery also has a tailor’s shop in the compound and it
belongs to the same person. There is also a quarters where we
all live in the compound.
“Most of the workers are from Cotonou, Benin Republic. On
Monday, a popular customer, known as Friday, came to eat. He
later left, but some moments later, he returned to say he
could not get a bus home.
“Friday had been making advances at me, but we were not a
couple. I allowed him to sleep over.”
Akinwunmi said around 1am, her boss, who discovered that
someone was sleeping over, called the police to arrest her and
Friday.
She said two other people, who slept over at the tailors’
quarters were also rounded up.
She said, “My madam called policemen to arrest all of us. I
had only a pair of shorts, a shirt and a wrapper on. I had N11,
000 in my pocket and my phone was not with me. On getting to
the station, I got the phone of a policewoman and used it to
call one of the tailors to come and help.
“In the morning of Tuesday, two tailors, Ben and Matthias,
arrived to bail out their friends, but they were also arrested,
bringing our total number to six.”
The victim said a few hours later, she felt sticky and pleaded
with a policewoman on duty to allow her have a bath.
She said she could not use the shower because it was too
filthy, adding that on her way out, she met the DPO for the
first time.
She said, “I met the DPO along the corridor. He asked me
what happened and I explained everything to him.
“Around 10pm on Tuesday, the DPO sent a policeman to call
Friday and I. I was wearing boxers and a top. I stayed at the
counter and Friday went in to see the DPO. A few minute later, Friday came out and the DPO called me in.
“The DPO said he could make sure that I spent the rest of my
life in jail, but I begged him. He then came close to me and
started rubbing his hands all over my body but I rejected his
advances.
“He said my boss had told him that he could do whatever he
wanted to do with me. He said since I was from Benin Republic,
if he killed me, nothing would happen.
“He said he would also make sure that the remaining five
suspects would be sent to prison. At this point, the DPO had
already taken off his clothes. Since I was afraid for my life, I
allowed the DPO to have his way.
“I begged him to use a condom, but he refused. He pushed me
to a smaller room in his office and put me on the bed and had
s*x with me. Immediately after he had finished, he told me to
shower in a bathroom inside his office.”
The mother of two told PUNCH Metro that the DPO promised
to ensure that she was released the next morning and ordered
a policeman to take her back into the cell.
Akinwunmi said when she returned to the cell, she cried
through the night. She said the following morning, she told
some female police officers about the incident.
She said when her people came to bail her from the station,
the DPO asked one Inspector Taiwo to bring her to his office.
“The DPO gave me his telephone number and asked for mine,
but I didn’t give it to him. He then said I could leave and
promised that no one would collect bail money from us.
However, on getting to the counter, the policemen on duty
collected N30, 000 from us,” she said.
Our correspondent learnt that the victim immediately went to
the Lagos Island Maternity Clinic to do a test.
A copy of the medical report, signed by one Dr. R. A. Seriki,
stated, “A complaint of s*xual assault: General clinical
condition satisfactory; no laceration, no bruises, no areas of
hyperemia, negative for HIV 1 and 2, pregnancy negative. Has
been placed on PEP and emergency contraception.”
The matter was said to have been reported at the Area A
Police Command, Lion Building, after which the Area
Commander, ACP Imohimi Edgal, invited the victim for
interrogation.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the matter had been transferred to
the office of the Commissioner of Police.
The Director, Project Alert on Violence Against Women, Dr.
Josephine Effah-Chukwumah, urged the police to handle the
matter seriously.
She said, “The fact that there were no bruises does not mean
that r*pe did not occur. The moment there is a direct threat
to life on the condition of s*x, the offence is r*pe. It is
unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria has
petitioned the National Human Rights Commission over the
alleged r*pe of Akinwunmi.
The petition, dated April 16 2014 and signed by NOPRIN’s
National Coordinator, Mr. Okechukwu Nwagunma.