Photo: 15 Year Old Girl Had $*x With Tricycle Rider Just Because Of N200

Every day has turned nightmarish for 15-year-old
Semisola Olona (not real names) who seems not
to get over the traumatic experience she had
when she was allegedly raped by a commercial
tricycle rider, known as Mr. Lati Ajoje.
Olona, a senior secondary one student in a Lagos
school, said Ajoje was her mother’s customer and
she knew him before the incident. Olona’s mother
runs a canteen in Iyana Ipaja, Lagos.
She told our correspondent recently that she
never believed Ajoje would rape her because he
was a frequent customer at her mother’s shop.
In tears, Olona, who claimed she was a virgin
before the incident, narrated how Ajoje took
advantage of her.
She said she was on her way to her mother’s
shop on January 15, 2016, when she met Ajoje
who offered to drop her off at the canteen.
“I didn’t suspect anything. I even thanked him as
I boarded his keke (tricycle). When we got to the
bus stop, he turned and faced another route. I
asked him if he wasn’t going to my mum’s shop
again. He didn’t answer me. I told him to stop me
at the bus stop but he refused.
“He then told me to be patient and said he only
wanted to go and collect something at Water
Estate. I insisted I wanted to drop off. He didn’t
listen to me, he ignored me. He got to where he
was going and he stopped at an uncompleted
building and told me to get down. I asked him
why, he said he wanted to tell me something. I
told him I didn’t like the place he brought me and
I was already feeling uncomfortable. He just
carried me forcibly and entered the building. I was
struggling. I even had to bite him but he didn’t
bulge. He carried me into a room in the
uncompleted building.
“He removed my clothes. I told him I would rather
he killed me than do anything to me. But he said
he wasn’t going to kill me but he would still have
s.ex with me. That was how he forced himself on
me and raped me,” she said.
Olona said Ajoje threatened to kill her if she ever
told anybody about the incident.
“After raping me, he used one rag to clean me up.
After he finished, he gave me N200. But I told
him I wasn’t going to take his money. I was
afraid to tell anybody because he had said he
would kill me. But eventually, I had to tell my
sister who told my mother. I have not seen him
again since then. He no longer comes to my
mother’s shop,” she said.
The President of Touch a Heart Foundation,
Lawrence Bassey, who is currently handling the
case, said the organisation felt obliged to take
over the case when Olona’s mother reported the
incident to it.
“The victim’s mother said her child was raped
and presented a police report. We have taken her
to the Mirabel S.exual Assault Referral Centre.
After some tests, one of the doctors told the girl’s
mother that she was actually raped and she has
been given some treatment,” he said.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that the case was also
reported at the Gowon Estate Police Division.
The investigating police officer in charge of the
case has said that the police are still looking for a
way to arrest the rape suspect.
But Bassey said the suspect has been seen on
the road operating his tricycle numerous times
without attempts by the police to arrest him.
“The police have just refused to do their job and
make the arrest. He is well known in the area.
“Few days ago, the IPO told us he can’t go
around looking for a rapist. He said we should go
and look for the suspect ourselves. We have
started the investigation on our own since the
police said we should handle it ourselves.
“The suspect has yet to be found. We met with
the chairman of the Keke operators in the area
where Ajoje operates and he promised to get
back to us. They took us to his mother, who also
said that Ajoje is on the run and nobody has seen
him. We have informed the National Agency for
the Prohibition of Trafficking in Person, Office of
the Public Defender and the Public Advice Centre
about this matter,” he said.
When our correspondent contacted the Divisional
Police Officer of the station, Mr. Festus Otabor, a
chief superintendent of police, he explained that
the complainant had the right to ask for him, if
the IPO refused to act on the case.
“On a case of such magnitude, they should have
made attempt to see me. I cannot hear of such
case and just let it go. I am happy that you are
informing me about the issue. They need to come
back and talk to me. It is a serious issue,” he
said.