Armed robbers break into halls, steal, rape students in Ago Iwoye

Some armed robbers on Friday, around 3:am, broke into several students’ halls of residence in the Abobi area of Ago Iwoye, Ogun state.

Ogunwatch learned that the robbers focused on Abobi, the area where Ago Iwoye Divisional Police Station is domiciled, as they visited several halls within the axis. The victims, largely students, lost valuable properties like smartphones, Monies, and ATM cards to the armed men, and some were sexually assaulted.

A student of Olabisi Onabanjo University who pleaded anonymity said to our correspondent that she witnessed one of the incidents when she woke up to the noise of people in distress: “I woke up around 3:am to screams of people I think were distress, and then I thought it came from my compound but eventually discovered it was a robbery going on in the next compound”

I could hear words like ‘shut up, ‘where is your phone, ‘bring out your phone, ‘go down, and then at some point total silence. 

“Later I could hear the sound of slaps as though the victims were being beaten and strangled. I think they were being raped”

“It was in the dark of night and everything was clear for me to hear, it happened adjacent to my window. Till now, I’m still scared, I can’t sleep.”

When Ogunwatch visited one of the scenes, it was discovered that the victims (3 females) were targeted because the landlord who also resided in the building was spared. 

Another eyewitness who also spoke to Ogunwatch said the landlord of the girls claimed to have heard the noise but was praying at the moment. 

Another affected hall, Shalom estate, was said to be robbed, the second time in the month: Korede, a resident of the hall, whose door was first targeted said: “Around 1:30 am, charging in my room, I heard my door jacking and a noise: ‘Open the door’, I shouted at them. My neighbor who had opened her door to see what was happening fell victim to their attack.”

A victim, Oyeronke, a resident of Shallom estate, said she was sleeping when they came: “I was sleeping around 1:30 am and I heard my neighbor’s voice in distress; I have never heard him scream like that; I opened my door and went out without minding the consequences. As if they were waiting for someone to open a door, they rushed us and attempted to cut us with a machete. The guys are very tall and huge, they came with matches, very new machetes. They took my iPhone 6s plus and left the compound”

Investigations by Ogunwatch reveal that the several halls that were attacked and robbed were perpetrated by the duo of tall and hugely built men. 

Efforts to get the local police to comment on the issue proved abortive at the time of filling the report however sources within the station told us the attacked girls were sexually harassed after being robbed of their items. When contacted about the incident, the Ogun state Police command’s spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi said: When did that happen? I am yet to know that, let me call the DPO there. I will call you back.”