Court Jails Undergraduate For 21 Years Over Rape Of Virgin Students In Lagos

An undergraduate of Lagos State University, Afeez Ogunbowale, has been sentenced to 21 years imprisonment by the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja.

Ogunbowale was sentenced by Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo on Tuesday after he was found guilty of five counts bordering on conspiracy, rape, and armed robbery. 

“The defendant is hereby sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for conspiracy, 21 years’ imprisonment each for counts of armed robbery, and 21 years’ imprisonment each for counts of rape. The sentences are to run concurrently,” she said.

It was gathered that Ogunbowale and his other accomplices who are still at large, committed the offences on April 18, 2018, at the Okokomaiko area of Lagos where they attacked their victims with dangerous weapons such as guns, knives, machetes, and bottles.

The affected students said Ogunbowale and his four other accomplices, robbed them of their possessions; phones, power bank, earpiece, gold chain, and cash of N1,200, at their off-campus accommodation.

They further explained that two of the female students, who were virgins, were also raped by two members of the gang, including Ogunbowale.

NAN reports that in their testimonies on November 4, 2019, the two students told the court that they lost their virginities to the attack.

They said they were robbed by five men but raped by two members of the gang – Ogunbowale and another – who is at large.

However, they said they were able to identify Ogunbowale through Facebook, adding that they belonged to the same faculty.

The complainants testified that when they confronted the convict at a police station, he prostrated and begged for forgiveness.