The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) is reporting that a 21 Year Old
University of Lagos student was "allegedly pushed down from the third
floor of the multi-storey building in Lagos, following a disagreement
with a man she met on the social network, Facebook" while the CSP
Fayoade Adegoke, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Bar Beach,
Victoria Island where the incident was reported, confirms that in the
official police report, the victim alleges that she jumped from the
third floor to escape being raped.
The victim "sustained multiple injuries, including a pelvis fracture,
and was undergoing surgery at the General Hospital, Marina, Lagos, on
Tuesday."
The UNILAG linguistics student was named in the news report but BN
has chosen not to republish her name.
Here is an excerpt of her story from the NAN Report;
"She met the young man through the social media, barely a week before
the Nov. 1 incident.
She told NAN that the 26-year-old man (names withheld) last Wednesday
invited her to a night club in Apapa from where they ended up in his
family home at 1004 Estate, Victoria Island, Lagos.
She noted that the young man had earlier talked about sex on phone
prior to the outing but she told him she was menstruating.
The victim said that on getting to the house, the man tore her dress
and tried to rape her.
According to the victim, the man thereafter pushed her down from the
third floor of the building because she refused to have sex with him.
When contacted, the mother of the young man, who was at home on the
night of the incident, however, told NAN that she was not aware of
what happened, saying that she slept around 10 p.m., wile the
disageement between the couple started much later.
The mother, who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that she paid part of the
hospital bill immediately after the victim was admitted, and even
tried to transfer her to a private hospital.
"I took her as our own daughter and so, I can do anything that will
make her recover quickly," she added.
She insisted that her preliminary inquiry indicated that victim was
not pushed by her son as alleged, but that she jumped on her own in
the ensuing scuffle.
When contacted, CSP Fayoade Adegoke, the Divisional Police Officer
(DPO) of Bar Beach, Victoria Island, Lagos, told NAN that the victim
wrote in her statement to the police that she jumped on her own, in
order to escape being raped.
Adegoke said that he ordered his men to convey the victim to the
hospital immediately after he was informed of the incident by night
security guards in the area.
The DPO said that the suspect was released on bail, pending further
investigation into the matter."
There are several disturbing questions and issues that are raised by
this incident and news story.
Why is the victim named and the accused's name is withheld? Why does
the accused's mother have access to the victim?
The victim has released contradictory statements – she reported that
she jumped to escape to the Police and that she was pushed to the
press whether the victim jumped or was pushed off the building, it
illustrates the severity of the crime.
The crime allegedly occurred in the accused's parents' house while
they were home! What does this say about our value system?
In February 2012, Susan Yusuf of SuzyQ was murdered and her killer
jumped to his death in 1004, a disturbing pattern seems to be emerging
from the popular condomium complex.
Absolutely noone deserves to be raped, even if sex was discussed on
the phone and a nightclub was visited.
After, the tragic Cynthia Osokogu, we advise young women and men to be
wise about who they interract with online and how they transition
those relationships into the real world.
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