A prosecution witness, Mr Babatunde Edu, on Tuesday narrated before an Ikeja Special Offences Court how the Lagos State University (LASU) apprehended its student, Afeez Ogunbowale, accused of raping two women in niqab.
A niqab is an islamic garment which covers the body leaving the eyes uncovered.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Edu is a security officer of LASU.
He testified at the trial of Ogunbowale who is charged with armed robbery and rape.
Led in evidence by the state counsel, Mrs O. A. Bajulaiye-Bishi, Edu told the court that he had been an employee of LASU for 22 years.
He said he got to know the defendant while investigating the alleged rape of the women who are also LASU students.
“The Dean of Student Affairs called me on Sept. 13, 2018, saying that two students were in his office to report a case of robbery.
“I met the two students and interacted with them and they explained how they were robbed and raped on April 18, 2018.
“They showed us a picture of the defendant who happened to be our student, and it was our responsibility to track the person.
“Our intelligence team tracked him and picked him up and the two victims were called and they identified him. They said he was one of the people who perpetrated the act,” he said.
Edu said that after Ogunbowale was identified by the complainants, he was detained at the Festac Police Station.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Mr Bisi Salau, the security officer said that though the alleged rape occurred on April 18, 2018, the case was brought to his attention on Sept. 13, 2018.
Edu said that he worked at the Investigation Unit of the Security Department of the school and that the defendant was apprehended by the Intelligence Unit of the Security Department.
“The victims said that after the incident, they tried to figure out the familiar face of one of the perpetrators.
“They logged into Facebook and identified the defendant through the Facebook account of their head of class,” the security officer said.
NAN reports that during proceedings on Nov. 4, 2019, the complainants, who dressed in niqab, narrated how they were allegedly robbed by five men but raped by Ogunbowale and one other person at large.
The women had told the court that they lost their virginity to the attack.
According to the prosecution, the defendant committed the offences alongside some others at large, on April 18, 2018, at the Okokomaiko area of Lagos.
“The defendant and his accomplices while armed with a gun, knife, machete and bottle, robbed the students of their phones, power bank, ear piece, gold chain and N1,200.
“The defendant and his accomplice who is at large, had unlawful sexual intercourse with the complainants.
“The offences contravene Sections 260(1) and 297(2)(a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015,” Bajulaiye-Bishi said.
Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo adjourned the case until April 1 for continuation of trial. (NAN)
