ONDO POLICE ARREST TWO OVER ALLEGED SEXUAL ABUSE, BLACKMAIL, EXTORTION OF 17-YR-OLD-GIRL

Agency report

….As Teenager Narrates How She Has Been Enduring Ordeal Since 2021

A 17-year-old girl (names withheld) has described the terrible ordeal she endured at the hands of suspected cultists from 2021 until October of this year, when the Ondo State Police Command saved her by apprehending two of the suspects, Ojonla and Bernard (surnames withheld).

Following a petition, the Command’s Anti-Cultism agents detained the two suspects on separate days in Supare Akoko, their hometown.

DSP Olushola Olayinka Ayanlade, the Police Public Relations Officer who verified the arrest, revealed on Saturday that the Command responded to the victim’s petition accusing one Ojonla of defilement after he enticed her to his apartment, gave her a boiled egg to eat, and asked her to purchase an alcoholic beverage with her money.

The PPRO said that the petition told of how the suspect, Ojonla, used a head warmer to cover her face, pulled off her clothes and had carnal knowledge of her.

He was also alleged to have introduced her to his cult members, telling them to go to her for sexual intercourse anytime they had the urge.

“The girl had been so scared since then, while the suspects continued to exploit her sexually. But they didn’t stop at that. They recorded her nude and started threatening her to pay them so that they would not expose her on social media.

“We followed the petition she wrote. The two suspects were picked on different dates in Supare, though it took  some time before they could be apprehended. Bernard even injured one of the operatives as he resisted arrest,” DSP Ayanlade stated.

It was gathered that other suspects had been hiding in the bush to evade arrest.

The teenage victim narrated her experience: “I am from Owo Town but live in Supare Akoko with my mother. I finished from secondary school and am currently learning events, cake and beauty vocation.

“In August 2021, while I was in SSS1 and aged 13, I was coming from my maternal grandmother’s house when I saw a guy whom I later knew as Ojonla. He called me and asked if I had money with me. He told me to buy a boiled egg and Regal Gin with my money. After I bought the items, he asked me to follow him. I entered a room with him, and he asked me to sit down. I did.

“After sitting, it just dawned on me that I didn’t know the person who invited me into a room. I told him that. Immediately, his countenance changed. He started heaping curses on me. I knelt down and started begging him. As I was on my knees, he peeled the boiled egg and told me to swallow its yolk. I told him I couldn’t swallow it, and he forced it into my mouth. I spat it out and didn’t eat it. He started dragging it with me and I raised an alarm. Someone came to knock the door and he didn’t answer. He was just cursing the person.

“After some struggles, he covered my head and face with a head warmer, removed my dress and had his way with me. He was the one who deflowered me because I was a virgin. It was about 8p.m. After that, he dismissed me.

“When I got home, I couldn’t tell my mother. A few weeks after, I became ill and was treated in a hospital. After a few months, Ojonla and one of his friends, Samuel, ambushed me along the road, threatened me with a gun, and took me to his house. Two of them slept with me. Usually, he would pull out a gun or knife to threaten me whenever he met me if he was in company with another guy. They would march me to his house to forcefully sleep with me.

“The third time was in March, 2022. By then, we had moved from our former residence to another. As soon as Ojonla who was with another friend, Wale, saw me, he threatened me again. It was a day I was coming from my maternal aunt’s residence where there was a celebration. On my way back home, Ojonla and his friend waylaid me, held my hands tightly and started dragging me away. Other young guys around started pleading with them to leave me alone, but they refused.

“As I continued struggling, Ojonla stabbed my hand with an object he had with him. I started bleeding. I still carry this scar till this day. I didn’t give up. I wanted to extricate myself, but he gave me a hard slap. My face was swollen for days, but I couldn’t tell anyone what happened to me because of Ojonla’s threat to kill me if I did. People thought I had conjunctivitis.

“At another time in the same year, Ojonla and another friend of his called Oskoro met me on the way again. Ojonla carried out his usual threat and took me to Oskoro’s house. They both slept with me.

“In 2023, Ojonla stopped touching me anytime he saw me, but would just frighten me and ask me to go. I used to flee anytime I saw him. However, Oskoro continued assaulting me sexually. He added another friend of his, Bernard. Oskoro asked me to give him money so that he would stop others from disturbing me. He said that I belonged to their Eiye Confraternity. All of the guys are cultists. I had to give him the money my mother gave me for sports. I was in SSS2 class then.

“One day, Oskoro called me, but I told him off, asking him if what he was doing to me was right. I asked him if he would be happy if his younger sister should be having same experience. He started beating me, but I was able to escape. When he saw that I was no longer responding to his calls, he started stalking me around where I was living.

“Another cultist, Ojo, started disturbing me in 2024, but I was not responding. One day, one guy in our neighbourhood, Juwon, who looked so gentle, called me. I used to relate with Juwon like a brother, unknown to me that he was one of the cult boys. I responded to Juwon’s call, and he said that he would like us to talk in privacy at the house veranda. I never thought he could be evil, so I followed him.

“Suddenly, he pushed me into a room in which I saw Ojo.  I wanted to rush out but Ojo locked the door. He gave me two options: either I should agree to having sex with the two of them or go look for N50,000 to give them. It was in March, this year. I replied him that I was not ready to pick either of the two options. I begged them to let me go, but they refused. Ojo wanted to sexually assault me. He tore my dress and asked Juwon to start video recording me. After doing that, they told me to leave, saying that I should contact them whenever I was able to get the N50,000 or N100,000. They promised to delete the video.

“Anytime he saw me after then, Juwon always spoke on the video recording and money issue. One day, he saw me and said he wanted me to delete the video myself. He said I should follow him to his house. Unknown to me, he had saved the video in a memory card. I deleted it on the phone. He and another friend, Richard, forcefully had sex with me, after which I left.

“A member of the Eiye cult group, known as Akue, later told me that he saw my nude video with someone. He said he would help me get rid of it if I could bring N30,000 to him in his house. He gave me his phone and account numbers, but I didn’t contact him.

“I went to my aunt in Akure and explained everything to her. The day after the explanation, Richard sent a screenshot of the video and sent the photo to my phone number which my aunt had put in her phone. He started threatening that he was about to post it on social media if he didn’t get the money he asked me to send. My aunt saw it and told him to send his account number. He did and it was discovered that it was Richard’s wife’s number. That was how we went to report at Anti-Cultism unit.

It was gathered that one of the suspects who the victim mentioned as having sexually abused her, Ojo, is currently in the prison, while others still remain at large. The PPRO however said that efforts were ongoing to apprehend them.

One of the arrested suspects, Ojonla, aged 28, in an interview said that the sexual relationship he had with the young girl was with her consent.

Ojonla, who said he was a welder, told his story: “I was arrested because of a girl I started dating four years ago. She said that some guys slept with her and took her pictures to embarrass her. I was arrested when police could not get those boys.

“Yes, it’s true I once dated and slept with the girl, but I didn’t take her pictures. Also, I didn’t join anyone to gang-rape her.”

Ojonla spoke on how he met the victim: “I couldn’t tell her age then. We met at where we call Orita Marun (five junctions) in Supare. We usually gathered there to chat, and anytime she passed by, she would greet me. She was the one who tried to woo me, telling me that she liked me. We started dating and I was mating with her. I never raped her. Our sexual relationship was with her consent. Also, I never threatened to kill her if she told anyone of our relationship. I didn’t gangrape her. After a while, we stopped dating and would only greet each other if she passed by.”

He confirmed being a member of Eiye Confraternity, saying that he joined in 2015 when he was 18 years old.

“I went for a ceremony at Ise Ekiti, Ekiti State, when I was initiated,” Ojonla said. He also said he held no position in the cult group. He went further to say that it was the girl who told him that she would like to join Eiye Confraternity. “I told her not to do it but she insisted that she liked it. It is true I told her to buy a cooked egg and Regal Gin to initiate her. I deceived her with that. I peeled the egg and gave her to eat. After that, I gave her the gin to drink, and then slept with her. That was my aim, not initiating her into cultism,” Ojonla stated.

He swore, using God’s name, that he never threatened the victim. He said he was a member of a white garment church which he used to attend. “I am not a bad boy,” he said.

On his part, Bernard, aged 30, denied sleeping with the victim, saying: “The girl pointed me out that I slept with her. I really didn’t do so. In 2023,  I spoke with her that I liked and wanted to date her. She agreed. A week after, we went to a room to have sexual relationship but when we got there, she complained that she usually had stomach pain during intercourse. I advised her to go to the hospital to take care of herself. She was about sitting for her SSCE then. We used to meet, and I would greet her, asking about the stomach problem. I didn’t sleep with her. After some time, I lost her contact because she was no longer living in Supare. The next thing I experienced was her bringing police to my house.

“What happened is that some guys took her inside a room, took her nude picture and started threatening her to pay them or they would post it on social media.”

He confirmed that he “formerly” belonged to Eiye Confraternity, stating: “I joined in 2016 at the age of 21. However, since then, I have not been relating with the cult group.”

Disclosing how he was initiated, Bernard said: “Some guys used to come near my house. On a particular day, on my return from the farm, they invited me to come under a palm tree near my residence. They blindfolded me, asked me to kneel and gave me gin to drink. After that, they told me I had become a member of Eiye Confraternity. Since then, I have been running from them. I was not given a bird name, but was called “BenB.”

He said he holds a Diploma in Hospitality Management Technology from Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, while he was working as a primary school teacher.