As Nigerians await report of investigations being conducted by the Lagos Police Command on its officer that allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl inside a station in Ojota axis of the state, fresh facts have emerged how the female teenager received medical and psychosocial support to save her life and relief her of the trauma that trailed the act against her status.
As gathered, the teenager was said to be distraught considering that she was defiled by a law enforcement officer identified as Owolabi, who was being paid by the Federal Government with tax payers’ money to protect her and other young girls against defilement but perpetrated the act himself after posing as a helper to the victim’s mother.
The pain suffered by the victim, it was learnt, resulted in bleeding that required that she undergoes medical care to prevent other health challenges that could arise from the act.
To save the victim, the Lagos State Government through its Domestic, Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA), facilitated the necessary referrals for comprehensive medical support for the teenager immediately the case was received at the agency.
A senior civil servant at the agency disclosed that the 17-year-old girl was immediately examined and treated by medical experts with better knowledge on such cases, in order to preserve evidence of the crime perpetrated against the teenager by the policeman under detention at the Lagos Police Command.
Aside from the medical care, the girl was said to have undergone psychosocial support to prevent the victim from attempting suicide act or falling into depression.
Another senior staff of the Lagos State Government disclosed that the victim was made to undergone therapy and counseling from experts to assist her get over the act and understand the government efforts to ensure justice is achieved especially arrest of the perpetrator.
Although, Owolabi, according to the spokesperson for the Lagos Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, has been in detention after his arrest, responding to questions from his colleagues on reasons for his action.
Hundeyin, in a short terse statement made while responding to Lagosians outcry to the act, said: “Suspect now in custody”.
Apparently awaiting outcome of the police investigations on its officer, the DSVA has reiterated the Lagos State Government’s stance against such act, saying we have a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of domestic and sexual violence.
The agency, in a statement released by the head of its Public Affairs Unit, Adejoke Ladenegan-Oginni, on Wednesday, reaffirmed its dedication towards protecting rights and dignity of all survivors including the 17-year-old girl defiled inside police station.
According to the statement, “We wish to assure the public that a meticulous investigation is currently underway. We trust in the leadership of the Lagos State Police Command to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into this incident. We believe that this is crucial in maintaining public trust.
“We reiterate the Lagos State Government’s Zero-Tolerance Policy for all forms of domestic and sexual violence and reaffirm our dedication to protecting the rights and dignity of all survivors”.
Prior to the act, the officer had promised to help the teenager retrieve her phone, which had been taken by ‘one chance’ robbers on June 16 while the victim, her grandmother, and siblings were returning from Ikeja.
The suspect reportedly overheard the teenager recounting her ordeal to her mother at her shop and offered to help track her missing phone and take her statement.
“On June 29, officer Owolabi called my mum on her phone and told her he had arrested the person with my phone and my mum should send me to his police station and I went there. On getting there, I was told they made a mistake with the tracking, and that the person caught wasn’t the one with my phone.
“The officer sent his personal assistant to call me into his office and he showed me directions there. When I entered his office and greeted him, he replied and got up to lock the door and put the key in his pocket. I shouted, ‘Sir, why did you lock the door?’
“He started trying to pull my clothes off and I shouted, then he brought out a gun, cocked it, and threatened to shoot me if I shouted. Then he began harassing me and when I struggled with him he hit me on the back of my head with the gun and raped me.
“I saw his phone ringing and the caller was my mum, but he told me since I didn’t have a phone with me, I should tell her I didn’t get to his office and from now on I should be reporting at his office by 12 pm every day during school break or while returning from school that he had been watching me for two years and now I just fell into his trap,” the distraught victim told our correspondent.
