Less than a week after a 100-level student of the University of Benin, Uwaila Omozuwa, was raped and killed inside a church in Benin City, an 18-year-old student of Federal College of Animal and Production Technology, Moore Plantation, Apata, Ibadan, Oyo State, has suffered the same fate.
The teenager, Barakat Bello, who was undertaking National Diploma programme in Science Laboratory Technology, was attacked on Monday.
Also on Monday, three armed men allegedly gang-raped a 17-year-old street hawker at the Oja-Oba Market, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
It was gathered that the attack on Barakat took place at her home in the Akinyele area of Ibadan.
Initial reports had it that her corpse was found near the house.
Father of the deceased, Kasimu Elepo, told reporters that he was not at home when the incident occurred.
He stated that the deceased’s sister was also out of the house when the tragic incident occurred.
According to him, the sister found Barakat’s body in a pool of her own blood at the back of the house when she returned from Quaranic lessons.
Elepo said, “I was not at home when the incident happened. The victim’s younger sister was not at home too; she went for Quaranic lessons, but when she returned home, she saw Barakat at the back of the house with deep cuts all over her body. She had been raped and killed.
“Somebody called me on the phone that I should come home, but he refused to tell me what happened. When I got home, I saw that my daughter had been raped and hacked to death.”
Coordinator, National Association of Nigerian Students, Zone ‘D’, Mr Samuel Olawale, demanded justice for the victim and said the rape of women must stop.
The deceased, who was a member of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, was buried on Tuesday according to Islamic rites.
The murder of the teenager has sparked protest on Twitter with the hashtag, #JusticeforBarakat.
A United Kingdom-based medical doctor, Harvey Olufunmilayo, said the rape epidemic must be brought to an end.
He tweeted, “Barakat Bello was alone at home when some men attacked her. She was raped and killed. This was in Ibadan yesterday. She was only 18. Barakat was at home. She is a Muslim hijabi sister. You mad people that come up with excuses for rape, what is the excuse this time?”
Another tweet by @mideglow read, “This is becoming too much!!! We are tired of burying our sisters and friends. We are tired of molestation and rape! Capital punishment should be meted to the perpetrators.”
Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo State Police Command, Mr Olugbenga Fadeyi, told journalists that although the incident was trending on the social media, he could not confirm it at the moment as it had not been reported to the police.
He expressed dissatisfaction with the failure of the deceased’s family to report the case for investigation by the police.
Fadeyi stated, “The story is trending; I have heard about it. I have got the link to the online report and I have read the story, but it is not in our crime diary.
“Efforts are being intensified to confirm the credibility of the report. At present, Divisional Police Officers, Oluyole and Apata divisions, have been contacted, but we found out that the address that was quoted is not correct. When I called the DPOs and I inquired, the two of them said there was no such report in their records.
For the Ado-Ekiti incident, it was gathered that the victim was hawking sachet water when the men, who were said to be armed with broken bottles, accosted her and took her to a corner in the market, where they forcefully had carnal knowledge of her around 7pm.
The victim was reportedly rushed to hospital for treatment after the incident.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Sunday Abutu, said two suspects had been arrested, adding that efforts were on to apprehend the third member of the gang.
“The girl was hawking sachet water when the incident happened around 7pm on Monday. The suspects are friends; we have arrested two of them, while the third is still at large. Investigation is ongoing,” Abutu stated.
Punch