A 24-year-old woman (name
withheld) on Wednesday narrated to an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic
Violence Court how she was allegedly drugged by her friend at a nightclub and
subsequently gang-raped in a hotel in Lekki, Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
reports that the woman, the first prosecution witness, testified in the trial
of two dropouts of Babcock University – Don-Chima George, 25, and Olusegun
Rasak, 28, charged with rape.
Led in evidence by Dr Jide
Martins, Director of Public Prosecutions, Lagos State, the witness told the
court that she was invited to Kabaal Nightclub situated at Ikoyi, Lagos, by
George who was her friend.
The alleged rape victim, who
testified for one and half hours, said: “Initially, I did not want to go, I was
hesitant, I told Chima but he insisted I come. He also said that his birthday
was a few days away and he was to celebrate it.
“I agreed. That was not the first
time we had gone out together as friends so there was nothing out of the
ordinary. He asked me to meet him at the De-Lankaster Hotel. We were supposed
to leave from there to the club.
“I got there because I knew where
it was. Segun Razak was there in Chima’s room already; I waited a few minutes
for everyone to get ready, and we left the hotel to go to the club.
“We got there, nothing out of the
ordinary happened; while at the club, at about 4am, I told Chima I was tired and
wanted to go home.”
She told the court that George
gave her a glass of Hennessey and Coca cola to drink, saying that the drink was
the only one she had at the club before she dropped off George at the
De-Lankaster Hotel.
“I drove and Chima was in the car
with me, and I had to drop him at the hotel. Segun Razak drove his car and had
his friends in his car. We made a few stops at Automated Teller Machines to get
some money for the Lekki Toll Gate.
“From there, we proceeded to the
hotel, when we got there, I proceeded to say hello to the other occupants of
Segun’s car.
“When I went into the reception
area, I found a mutual friend of ours called Foluso; he was pretty drunk. Being
the person that I am, I decided not to let him stay in the reception area. I
helped him and took him up to Chima’s room.
“I knocked on the door and I did
not hear anyone answer, but I opened the door because the door was already open
because the door was bad.
“I got my friend inside the room
and put him on the bed. After I got him on the bed, I kept talking to him to
make sure that he was okay.
“While he was lying down, I was
watching a movie on my phone and from that moment, I do not recollect anything
because I passed out, which was out of the ordinary because I usually remember
when I fall asleep,” she said.
At this point, the witness broke
down in tears, narrating how, in her subconscious state, she was allegedly
gang-raped by George and Razak.
She said: “My next recollection
after passing out was being in a state that I wasn’t in ordinarily. I felt
drunk but I knew I wasn’t because I did not drink enough to make me drunk.
“I felt weak and I could feel
hands grabbing me and I could also hear a voice in the room which I knew to be
Chima’s voice and I felt Segun on top of me having sex with me.
“I felt his (Segun) dreadlocks on
my body because he had dreadlocks. I remember trying to push him off as he was
touching me. He was touching my breasts and I could feel another pair of hands
on my thighs.
“I blacked out and came up again
a second time and I could feel somebody fingering me. I knew I heard Chima’s
voice and I couldn’t recall what he was saying, and I felt myself being
penetrated again. I tried my best to say no.
“I believe it was Chima who penetrated
me again. I believe it was Chima because I heard him asking if I was awake
after all of that; I blacked out again, and at that point, I knew both of them
had had sex with me.
“I was in a state where I was not
conscious but I had a sense that I could hear them. I woke up around 7am. When
I woke up, I was confused and I was trying to recall what happened.
“I did not consent to the
penetration, I am 100 percent sure I am not in a relationship with both of
them.”
The witness said that when she
woke up, she confronted George who denied any form of sexual relations between
them.
“I could feel my vagina sore; I
knew that a sexual act had happened. When I woke up, Chima was in the room with
me; he was sitting in a chair opposite the bed. He was on his phone.
“I asked, `Chima what happened
last night?’ He said, `Nothing’. By this time, Segun Razak was not present in
the room. I asked the second time, and he said, `Nothing’. I asked him
straight, `Did we have sex last night?’
“He said, ‘No’ and I told him:
`If we didn’t, why is my underwear (pant) not on?’ He did not say anything. I
started looking for my underwear.
“I was thinking that this is my
friend, he would not do that to me. I finally found my underwear under the
duvet, I grabbed it, grabbed my wig and car keys and went downstairs,” she
said.
The witness said that she left
the hotel in tears, shock and confusion, and did not want to go home in her
traumatised state.
The witness told the court that
she informed her trusted friend called Musa and his girlfriend, Seyi, about the
alleged incident.
“Musa was angry, he asked me
where the hotel was. At first, I did not want to tell him, I just wanted to go
home and forget it ever happened but he told me I cannot let them get away with
it.
“He informed his older sister,
Bisoye, and they all rallied and went to the hotel. They went with a police
escort to the hotel. When we got there, I stayed inside the car and they went
to get them inside the hotel.
“Musa’s car was tinted so they
did not know I was in the car, they brought them out so I could see them but
they could not see me.
“I could hear them being
questioned. They did not verbalise that they did it but I could tell from their
body language that they knew they were caught.
“When these were going on, people
started coming outside,” she said.
The woman told the court that she
went to Maroko Police Station where Musa, Bisoye and she made statements,
adding that on Feb. 5, the case was reported to the Gender Unit of the state police
command.
She said that she went to the
Amethyst Hospital, Lekki, and the Mirabel Center, for medical examination.
The woman testified that her
friends who reported the alleged crime were victimised by the families of the
defendants.
“They asked me to drop the case
but even after asking me to drop the case, they went ahead to arrest my friend.
“I feel betrayed most especially
by Chima. You were supposed to be my friend. I have no personal relationship
with Segun Razak, I only know him as Chima’s friend.
“I have never been to Segun’s
house; I have never met his parents or his other family members. I knew Chima
as a friend, I have met his dad, I remember his father telling me how he
thought I was a good influence on him.
“For all these to happen, I feel
hurt, I feel betrayed,” she said.
NAN reports that the defendants
are alleged by the police to have committed the offences on Feb. 3, from 5.00am
to 7.00am at De-Lankaster Hotels, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.
While at a nightclub, the
defendants allegedly mixed the complainant’s drink with a substance that
rendered her unconscious.
The police alleged that the
defendants took turns to rape the woman in the hotel and videotaped the sexual
offence.
According to the prosecution, the
offences contravene Sections 258 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State,
2015.
Justice Abiola Soladoye adjourned
the case until June 13 for continuation of trial.
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