How I was gang-raped by 8 students, Unilag student tells court

A student of the University of Lagos (Unilag) on Tuesday told an Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court that she was gang-raped by eight fellow students and blackmailed with a video recording of the assault.

Miss Z (name withheld) a 19-year-old student of the institution made the revelation while giving evidence during the trial of five students over the alleged crimes.

The accused students are Moboluwaji Omowole, 19; Chuka Chukwu, 19; Peace Nwankama, 19; James Aguedu, 20 and Osemeka Josephine, 20. They were remanded in Kirikiri medium prisons by the court pending the hearing of their bail applications.

Other students who are alleged by authorities to be accomplices to the alleged crimes are still at large.

Miss Z who was 17 years old at the time of the alleged gang rape, was led in evidence by Mrs K. A. Momoh-Ayokambi, the state’s lead prosecutor.

In a lengthy testimony which lasted for 2 hours and 10 minutes, she gave an explicit account of her ordeal.

Narrating the events that led to the alleged gang rape, she told the court that she became friends with Nwankaba (the third defendant) who was her roommate when she moved into school hostel at the 2016/2017 academic session.

She alleged that Nwankaba, her friend and roommate lured her to be gang raped.

“One day in the early afternoon around 12pm, Peace (Nwankana) called me on the phone and asked if I was around and asked if I wanted to hang with another boy called Yinka (now at large) at High Rise which is a staff quarters hostel at Unilag. In no particular order, the following took their turns - Daniel, James, Yinka, Bolu (first defendant), Seriki, Emmanuel and two other people who I don’t know their names. They were eight men.”

Miss Z said following the alleged gang rape, she was subjected to further sexual assault by some of the defendants and their accomplices.

“At a point when they were leaving, they led me outside the building and they told me they had a video of what happened. They said if I don’t want to be popular in school, I have to answer them anytime they wanted to have sex. They collected my number and shared it among themselves,” she said.

Justice Sururat Soladoye adjourned the case until March 18 for cross-examination of Miss Z. (NAN)