Police said yesterday that they had apprehended six men who
stripped a 24-year-old lady and rubbed pepper into her private
parts for allegedly stealing a phone.
This was even as reports emerged that the incident leading to
the violent assault on the lady had to do with sexual nature. The
reports, however, have different versions.
A police source said: “There were two ladies involved in the
matter. One is a matured lady and the other is the victim. It was
actually the matured lady that took the victim to the hotel to meet
the men. Apparently, the matured lady knows one of them. The hotel
manager, where the whole drama started, was among those
arrested.
“Anyway, the men wanted to have sex with them, but the matured
lady, who has a relationship with one of the guys they went to
meet, sensed that their drinks were drugged with tramadol. She
confronted them and they admitted that there was tramadol in the
drinks. The lady said they wouldn’t drink it. She walked out, which
made the victim to say she too was leaving since the ‘auntie’ that
brought her had left.
“She was already walking away when the men called her back, with
one of them saying his phone was missing. They dragged her to the
house of a supposed native doctor to confirm that she stole the
phone. That was how the whole ugly incident started.”
According to another source, a middle-aged man was the
mastermind of the whole horrific incident. The man allegedly
mobilised thugs to sexually molest the girl.
The middle-aged man is also alleged to be the person that the
matured woman went to see, while taking the victim along.
He was arrested on Wednesday night. He was later used as bait to
catch other five suspects, while police are hunting for two
others.
The source added: “The middle-aged man is amorously linked with
the victim and later complained of a missing phone. He collared the
victim to a native ‘doctor,’ around Ugbiyokho area of Ekehuan Road,
Benin City, to determine the culpability of the victim. As is
customary with fake herbalists, the victim was instantaneously
pronounced guilty and asked to produce the missing phone. The
victim’s denial and protest fell on deaf ears.
The man, the herbalist and the herbalist’s apprentice pounced on
the victim. She was beaten, stripped and pepper inserted into her
private parts. All was video recorded.”
The video showed how the men stripped the victim and inserted
pepper into her private part, claiming that she stole the phone.
The video, which must have been uploaded by one of the
perpetrators, went viral by Monday.
Further investigation by our correspondent revealed that the
victim was taken to Lafun Hotel located in the state. The hotel is
alleged to be owned by a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress
(names withheld).
Findings further revealed that the victim had lodged at the
hotel on Sunday night with a man when the controversial phone at
the centre of the entire problem got missing.
Angered by the fruitless search, the man who took the girl into
the hotel threatened fire and brimstone, but all to no avail. The
development prompted him and others to approach a native doctor who
performed some rituals and recited incantations in the process.
The victim was said to have been compelled to undergo strange
mystic oath taking, at the end of which no result came of the
entire drama.
But not convinced about the whole issue, the owner of the phone
and others dragged the girl to a corner where they carried out the
despicable act of inserting pepper into her private parts with a
view to forcing her to confess to stealing the phone.
The six suspects arrested so far in connection with the case are
Otoghile Joel, owner of the phone alleged to have been stolen by
the young woman; Lucky Igbinovia alias ‘One Man Squad’ in whose
house the young woman was tortured; Edobor Osemwengie, manager of
Lafun Hotel; Kingsley Iyamu,; Gregg Eweka and Friday Omorogbe.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Frank Mba, said the
police had established contact with the female victim, aged 24
years.
Mba added that her health status and recovery rate were being
monitored.
He said: “Following the dehumanising incident, the
Inspector-General of Police (IG), Mohammed Adamu, had ordered a
comprehensive investigation into the report.
Consequently, the Edo State Police Command, led by its
Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, swung into action, leading
to the investigative breakthrough.”
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