How ‘Good Samaritan’ raped 78-year-old woman

Taiwo Jimoh

Detectives from the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a 41-year-old bus driver, Jelili  Lawal, for allegedly raping a 78-year-old woman at Oloti village in Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja area of the state.

The victim (name withheld) was said to have missed her way home in January 1, and approached Lawal, appealing to him to help her find her way home to Ketu.

Lawal thereafter, offered to assist the old woman, but instead of taking her to her house in Ketu, he took her to Oloti village where he raped her.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, said that Lawal was arrested after a neighbour, who heard the old woman shouting, alerted the police.

Imohimi said: “The woman cried and shouted as Lawal pounced, raping her. The woman cries attracted someone in the neighbourhood, who quickly called the police and directed them to the location where the cry emanated from. Police picked the suspect. The suspect was caught in the act by the police and the woman rescued. The woman was already bleeding from her private parts as a result of the assault and forceful penetration. The victim was immediately rushed to the hospital, where she was attended to and  counseled by a trauma specialist."

Lawal, who spoke with journalists briefly, denied the allegation, stressing that it was a plot by neighbours to tarnish his reputation. 

He said: “ On the day I gave the old woman a ride, she complained of been tired. I offered to take her to my house which was not too far from the bus stop to rest before taking her to her house in Ketu. While we were in my room, I suddenly heard my friend's wife and neighbours shouting. I came out to find out what was happening only to be accused of raping the old woman.

What will I be doing with a 78-year-old woman? This is a plot by my detractors to tarnish my reputation.”

Similarly, a 17-year-old boy, Samuel Balogun, is currently being detained at the Alakuko Police Station for allegedly defiling a 12-year-old girl.

The suspect was said to have lured the victim to an uncompleted building at No. 14 Ademola Abiola Street, Alakuko, where he carried out the act.

Balogun was immediately arrested when the information got to the policemen at Alakuko and he’s currently undergoing interrogation at the gender section of the command.  Imohimi however, said that the two suspects would be charged to court on the conclusion of investigations.