Chief Muhydeen Agbelekale, Baale of Awori-Ibeshe Titun Community, has appealed to both Igbogbo/Baiyeku LCDA and the state government to urgently intervene and rescue them from the nefarious activities of Badoo-like rapists in their area.
In a chat with Oriwu Sun recently in Ikorodu during an investigation, the Baale lamented that when the case of a suspect, who was taken to Ibeshe palace and later handed over to the police was unraveled, they thought they had seen the last of the rapists, but the situation has continued unabated.
The Baale could not help wondering aloud why those found to be serial rapists were always well statured and mature men. He also called for the improvement of Ipakodo Police Station and Nichemtex Police Station by increasing the number of police officers on ground. According to him, such a measure would ensure that more police officers would patrol all the communities in Ibeshe and be a great help in times of emergency.
One of the residents, who spoke with Oriwu Sun and claimed to be the first settler in the community in 1986, Mr. Hakeem Idowu, disclosed that contrary to speculations, the rapists were not indigenes. He revealed that the one, who was burnt very close to his house, revealed himself as a man from Delta State. In his words, “It is not more than three months now when Badoo entered this community. Initially, we thought it was just one person until recently, when one of them was caught and set ablaze. But on the third day, another Badoo-like incident occurred. Their modus operandi is that they go into houses to rape women and sometimes kill their victims.”
Recalling an earlier incident, he spoke about a five year old girl, who was kidnapped from a church after vigil and raped by another ‘Badoo’ before dawn. His words, “He came into the church and took the girl away. Subsequently, he tore her buttocks apart and left her in her own pool of blood. Fortunately, she struggled back to the church and she was found and rushed to the hospital. Now, the girl had been operated upon for the first time and she is still going to undergo the second one. I personally went to check her at the hospital, where I saw her buttocks still joined together with her private part,” he narrated.
Mr. Idowu also enjoined the government and the traditional institutions to step up efforts to end this atrocity. He also called on the police to investigate the speculation that the rapists are exploiting their victims for ritual purposes, and to sanction those who might be sponsoring them.
A lady resident, who does not want her name on print, passionately pleaded with the traditional rulers and the government to change tactics, since their previous efforts didn’t seem to yield any result.
The situation of things at Oke-Ota and other communities, where these ugly incidents had taken place, had been that of panic and deafening silence, with the streets deserted and quiet. Many residents did not want to speak because the fear of ‘Badoo’ had become the beginning of wisdom for them. Few of the residents spoken with attributed the success recorded by ‘Badoo’ to the type of building available in most parts of Ibeshe, which are mostly flats and mini-flats. They said a flat could easily be intruded upon and the occupants dealt with without anyone noticing it.