- A netizen, Rhwaley, posted that a 14-year-old girl was raped by her landlord's son
- The Lagos State Police spokesman said the victim’s mother was not cooperating but investigation remained ongoing
- Nigerians react, call for the arrests of the landlord, his son and the victim’s parents
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin has said investigation is ongoing in the case of a 14-year-old that was allegedly defiled by her landlord’s son in Lagos.
He also revealed that the victim’s mother is not cooperating with the investigations, as well as everyone on the street where the house is located.
The Command’s spokesman posted on his X handle, @BenHundeyin, saying: “UPDATE: The house has been located in conjunction with @Lagosdsva. The landlord is not home. The suspect is not home, neither is the survivor nor her family home. The survivor’s mum has been contacted on phone but she is not willing to cooperate with the police. Also, everyone on the street has declined assisting the police in any form. Radio silence! Investigation is ongoing.”
A netizen, RHWALEY, had posted videos and a picture of the victim in a blood-stained jean trouser on Tuesday August 13 on his X handle @Rhwaley. He captioned it: “🔞🔞 - A 14yrs old girl was raped yesterday by her landlord son in Alakuko Lagos. The parents and family of the girl are helpless. The landlord said nothing will happen!!”
Many Nigerians in the comment session had tagged the the police and the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency,, calling for the suspect to be arrested and prosecuted accordingly.
Hours later, Hundeyin had provided an update saying there had been no report of the case at the time. He posted: “I have been tagged a lot to this post. I have equally called the DPO Alakuko repeatedly to get an update. The only update I have been getting is, ‘No report of such has been made.’ Please, do well to report at the nearest police station or provide the address to enable the DPO go verify this report and take necessary steps.”
Moments later, he posted another update notifying Nigerians that the police had started investigating the case but the victim's mother was not cooperating.
Nigerians react to alleged defilement case
Nigerians expressed their rage on the matter, calling for the police to arrest the perpetrator without the statement of the victim or any witness. Some Nigerians said many people are scared of the police so they would not want to cooperate with investigations.
Others believe that the police have to fix their reputation because people will keep shying away from reporting cases to the police because of the lack of trust they have in the system.
Here are some of the comments:
@IamOlorunwa_ posted: “Is like the Mother of the child is mad for not cooperating. Maybe she doesn't know the power she has on this case.”
@TheodoreBasil posted: “This is how police job is done abroad . Some cases need not be reported before police take action . That’s why we have whistleblowers. Make sure you arrest the Landlord.”
@Baale_Ibadan posted “At this juncture, the mother should be arrested and charged with an offense of hiding intelligence that was used to endanger the life of a minor and also for preventing proper investigation regarding the abuse of a minor.”
@espeezeal posted: “people are always scared of the police getting involved in their issues, because the police and justice system is never fair.”
@efe_edwards posted: “Oga stop it! Whether the mother wants to press charges or not is irrelevant. The state has purview on charging this case to court with or without the parents consent. @Lagosdsva ensure this child gets justice!”
@Aynana24 posted: “This is a crime against the State, nobody cares about whether or not her parents speak. Arrest the bast@d,”
@bisimichaelng posted:”Conspiracy to bury the matter. The police and @Lagosdsva
must insist on getting to the bottom of this issues. This reckless behavior should not be encouraged in modern society. Arrest her parents. Arrest the landlord. Arrest the landlord association chairman. They are all mad.”
@Ekunokoiyae posted: “People purely scared to talk to the police to avoid any change of matter they may got detain that majorly why people are scared of talking to police in this kind of situation.”
@lollypeezle posted: “One day, we will talk about how the Nigerian Police have messed up their reputation before average Nigerians. Imagine a case as serious as the rape of a 14-year old girl in Alakuko, neighbors are running from giving accounts of what happened because “a o ni r’ogun olopa o” 🤦🏽♀️. Or should we say they fear the suspect? If they fear the suspect, then they don’t trust the protection from police. Do you know how terrible this thing is? You lodge a complaint at the police station, you will pay. So far you write statement, you will surely pay.
You visit an arrested person at the police station, you will pay for izzal before they bring him out for you to see. Let’s not even talk about how you can report what happened and being the one detained. If the Nigerian Police can’t work towards being trusted, nkan ma baje gan.”
Nigeria Police says it foiled bomb attack in Lagos, people react, “This is Netflix material”
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that the Nigerian Police Force said that it foiled an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack in Ikeja, Lagos State.
The police revealed that the IED was discovered and detonated on July 31 by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Unit of the Nigeria Police Force, along Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja, Lagos.