A mobile money agent, Eniola Adenuga, yesterday narrated to newsmen why and how he raped his female co-worker, Faith Jude, to death in their office around Lafenwa area of Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Adenuga said the girl just joined the company and he quickly picked a love interest in her. He lamented that despite having made countless advances to her with promises of treating her fine, she refused to accept his offer for a romantic relationship.
He added that as the affection for her kept building up, he contemplated seeking to have his way by force and an opportunity provided itself on a, particularly rainy evening when the victim came to the office to collect the day’s proceed for their master.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, Mr. Edward Ajogun, who paraded the suspect at the command’s headquarters at Eleweran, explained that the suspect had on September 19 reported at Lafenwa police division that he came to his place of work only to discover the lifeless body of Jude in front of his office covered with a canopy.
Ajogun added that upon Adenuga’s report, detectives from Lafenwa division moved to the scene where the picture of the body was taken. The police discovered that there were marks of violence on the deceased body, which raised the suspicion that she was murdered.
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Ajogun said: “Based on the recovery, the complainant was professionally interrogated and it was discovered that he was the person that actually killed the victim. He confessed to the crime and stated that the deceased, a co-worker came to the shop to collect money for their boss and he took advantage of the heavy downpour to grab the deceased, gagged her mouth with a piece of cloth while he raped her. Having had his way with the girl, he discovered that she had given up the ghost due to suffocation.”
A subdued Adenuga, who spoke with reporters, said he grabbed the girl, wrestled her to the ground and raped. He, however, noted that he had scarcely concluded the raping act when the girl died of suffocation. The suspect pleaded for mercy, saying he never meant to kill Jude.
He said: “I raped her in the shop and she died in the process. She was also having her menstruation at that period. I kept her body in the store. In the early hours of the third day of the incident, I placed her body in front of the shop and went to report at Lafenwa police station that I found a body in front of our shop. I had to confess during the investigation that I actually covered her mouth with her underwear while I raped her to death.”
According to the Deputy Police Commissioner, the case is being investigated by the Homicide Section of the command’s Criminal Investigation Department.
Meanwhile, an Ibadan-based fashion designer, Esther Isaiah, has accused her step-father, John Dickson, of raping her and sexually abusing her younger sister. Testifying in a Mapo Customary Court in Ibadan, Isaiah, aged 20, also alleged that her stepfather was responsible for her childlessness.
She said: “Our step-father started molesting me at age 12 and my younger sister whenever we visited our mother in her home. Whenever my mother is not at home, my stepfather will threaten that he will kill me if I don’t allow him to sleep with me. So, I allowed him in order to live.
“He raped me so many times. I never told my mother because I didn’t know what would happen, but I told my friends. He also raped my younger sister. She told me that our step-father comes into the room where she sleeps with a mask and rapes her.”
Earlier, Dickson who spoke through an interpreter had filed a divorce suit against his wife on grounds of abandonment, alleging that his wife, Mary, abandoned him for three years without any reason. However, Mary countered her husband’s allegation as she described him as evil and an animal in human skin.
“It is true that I left Dickson’s home. He raped my daughter, one of the two children I had before I married him. The girl was afraid to tell me what my husband did to her and she stopped visiting me. In Cross River State, where I am from, it is a taboo for a man to sleep with a stepdaughter and her mother. Except a certain sacrifice is performed, the stepdaughter might never conceive and the mother will die. I am currently sick and need urgent spiritual deliverance,” Mary said.
After listening to the testimonies, Chief Ademola Odunade, the court’s president, ordered all the parties concerned to ensure that they did the needful since it was a matter of life and death. He held that Dickson might be charged for a felony.
The arbitrator adjourned the case till Oct. 15 for judgment.(The Guardian, Nigeria)
