Daily Trust

3 girls raped by hoodlums during EndSARS protest in Ekiti

- From Raphael Ogbonnaiye, Ado-Ekiti

Three girls were raped on Monday during the EndSARS protest in Ekiti State.

The state’s Attorney General and Commission­er for Justice, Olawale Fapohunda, has condemned the action which occured around Fajuyi area of Ado-Ekiti.

The Commission­er for Justice said, “Rape and robbery cannot be the values of EndSARS protesters.”

Fapohunda made this known in a statement yesterday in Ado Ekiti while receiving mothers of the three girls who were allegedly gang-raped around Fajuyi area of Ado-Ekiti yesterday night.

The Attorney-General said it was regrettabl­e that the legitimate protests against impunity by SARS have now been hijacked by undesirabl­e elements that rape, assault, and rob innocent citizens.

“It is becoming obvious that government cannot continue to allow the good people of Ekiti

State suffer in this manner,” he said.

Fapohunda, however, advised the women to immediatel­y take the assaulted girls to the Ekiti State Sexual Assault Referral Centre the Moremi Clinic located in the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital for a medical check-up.

According to him, “it may now be necessary to alert all those participat­ing in the protests, specifical­ly girls and women to note that there exist hoodlums in their midst whose agenda is to rape and rob.”

The mother of one of the girls who spoke on behalf of the other two mothers told the AttorneyGe­neral that their daughters joined the protests out of conviction of the cause and said they had appealed to the girls to be careful.

According to her, she decided to come to see the AttorneyGe­neral first rather than the police because of the campaign by the Attorney-General against sexual violence in the state.

She lamented that they were horrified that their daughters would be raped by those who were fighting the same cause. She then pleaded with the AttorneyGe­neral to ensure that the rapists were apprehende­d and prosecuted.

Responding to a question on whether the rapists will be apprehende­d, Fapohunda said the first step was to seek medical support for the girls. The girls would then be debriefed for the purpose of police investigat­ion.

 ?? Photo: Benedict Uwalaka ?? Suspected touts take over the #ENDSARS protest at Ikeja in Lagos on Monday
Photo: Benedict Uwalaka Suspected touts take over the #ENDSARS protest at Ikeja in Lagos on Monday

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