Two men arrested over rape of 4 school girls in Abuja

Two men accused of raping four school pupils of the same secondary school and at different occasions have been arrested in Abuja, FCT. The suspects are a 41-year-old Festus Femi, who is an installation engineer, and Luke Gabriel Ekundayo, a 51-year-old bursar of Government Secondary School Dangara, Abaji-Abuja. Femi, who hails from Ondo State, is […]

Two men accused of raping four school pupils of the same secondary school and at different occasions have been arrested in Abuja, FCT.

The suspects are a 41-year-old Festus Femi, who is an installation engineer, and Luke Gabriel Ekundayo, a 51-year-old bursar of Government Secondary School Dangara, Abaji-Abuja.

Femi, who hails from Ondo State, is married with two children and lives in Bwari Area Council of Abuja while his wife and children live in Ondo State.

He was apprehended by men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and thereafter referred to the National Agency for the Prohibition in Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigations and prosecution.

It was gathered that the first victim, a 13-year-old Junior Secondary 2 pupil in one of the secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory, lives with her parents in Bwari.

The victim was said to have stated that she met Femi through her classmate, who asked her in school to escort her to Femi’s house, and claimed he was her uncle.

“On getting to the house, her classmate and Femi went out briefly, and at their return she told the victim that Femi wanted to have sex with her. The victim’s refusal and pleas of being a virgin fell on deaf ears as Femi turned the volume of the sound system very high and raped her in the presence of her friend. He further threatened to kill her if she tells anyone. This left the victim so distraught that she attempted suicide,” a statement from NAPTIP said.

The second victim, according to the statement, is a 12-year-old Junior Secondary 2 pupil who lives with her Aunt in Bwari.

“The same classmate took her to Femi’s house and told her that Femi wanted to have sex with her. On her refusal, Femi gave them money and told them to visit some other time. On a fateful day, she was on her way to her classmate’s house and met Femi on the way; he invited her to his house and raped her while she was waiting for her friend,” the statement said.

The third victim, a 15-year-old girl, was said to be the same person that introduced the other two victims to Femi.

The statement said, “She stated that Femi was her former neighbour and each time he had sex with her, he gave her N500. He also told her to bring girls for him and he would give her N3,000. She stated that so far, she had brought 5 girls to him ranging from 12 to 15 years. She further corroborated the first victim’s story on the rape and threat to life.”

The second suspect, Ekundayo, from Ilorin, Kwara State was arrested by NAPTIP officials for allegedly drugging, raping and impregnating a 15-year-old student.

Ekundayo is said to be the victim’s guardian in school and as a result, she spent short holidays in his house.

“The victim, a senior secondary three (SS3) student took ill in Ekundayo’s house, and upon taking some drugs administered to her by the suspect, she passed out.

“On waking up, she saw bloodstains and said she felt uneasy, but did not suspect that the school bursar, whom her grandmother handed her over to for protection, could do anything sinister to her.

“The victim, an orphan who was on scholarship, was threatened by the suspect into having sex with him continuously, or he would tell her sponsors to stop paying her school fees. The rape continued until the victim got pregnant,” the statement said.

The Director General, NAPTIP, Julie Okah-Donli said the suspects will “be prosecuted for their crime against humanity and NAPTIP will not hesitate to bring the full wrath of the law on any rapist.”