Five secondary school students of Ejioku Community Grammar School, Oyo State, who allegedly ambushed female students who came from another school, dragged them into the bush and raped them have spoken on their involvement and the role played by each of them.

The male students were arrested by Amotekun Corps, Oyo State Command after information was received on the incident. The second in command of Oyo Amotekun, Kazeem Babalola Akinro, confirmed this when contacted.

Investigation revealed that the rape incident was not an isolated case, as it is said to be the norm among male students in the areas.

In the instant case, one of the victims, a 14-year-old student, was said to have had her hymen forcefully broken after two boys had earlier failed to penetrate her private part.

The students involved were identified as Mayowa, 17; Joshua, 16; Seun, 17; Sunday, 16 and Basit, 17 (surnames withheld). Two of them, Seun and Sunday, are from the same mother but different fathers.

It was gathered from a credible source who was a parent in the school that the act was so rampant among the students that the principal had warned them. The source said that it was also discussed at the Parent-Teacher Association meeting where parents were told to warn their male children.

One of the suspects currently at large was said to have used his motorcycle that he usually brought to school to chase the girls into the bush beside their field where his colleagues would be lying in waiting. They would then pounce on the girls and start raping them.

The latest victims were four girls but three of the parents reportedly decided to keep sealed lips. The case caught the attention of a female lawyer, Barrister Modupe Aderemi, and she was able to have a conversation with one of the traumatized girls whose hymen was brutally broken, and she narrated her experience. Strangely, the Nigerian Tribune learnt that the fatherless girl was quickly whisked off by her father?s family from Ibadan to a town that shares boundary with where they live so that the case would die off.

In their latest sexual escapade, a member of the group of suspected rapists recorded a video of the deflowered girl as she was being abused. In the video, seen by the Nigerian Tribune, the girl was begging Mayowa as he held her neck with his hands, saying that it was hurting her. The boy, however, threatened her not to shout, barking at her to raise her legs. Crying, she pleaded, telling the suspect that she was still young and had not known any man. She begged him not to deflower her, but one of the boys came and pushed his finger forcefully into her private part to break her hymen in order to allow easy penetration.

The girl?s father is said to be late, and his relatives decided not to pursue the case, blaming the mother and the person who offered assistance for reporting the case to Amotekun.

In an interview with Mayowa, who, though an SSS3 student, could not speak in English, narrated how they raped the girls: ?What happened was that we had finished our exams, and when that happens, students usually go to other schools around them to play with fellow students.

?Some female students came to our school on Thursday, December 5. Four of the female students got near our school?s field and we went to them. Our Principal and teachers were in their offices while we were on the field.

?One of us, Basit, knew one of the girls. We deceived them into believing that other students were playing on the school farm, volunteering to take them there. Usually, we used to play on the farm, with colleagues, tying ropes on two close trees and swinging on them.

?The girls followed us, but we had the motive of sleeping with them. On getting there, we told them that we wanted to have s3xual relationship with them. We picked them one by one and took them to different spots on the farm, laid them on their backs on the grass and raped them.

?I didn?t know what others were doing at their own corners. When the girl with me didn?t want to yield, I told her that another boy would pick her if she tried to run away, asking her to do the ?normal? with me. I asked her to remove her underwear and mounted her. It was difficult penetrating her because of her virginity, so I just ejaculated at the entry and got up.

?One of us, Joshua, decided to go for her also but also didn?t achieve penetration. Another boy wanted to do same but I refused him. He was the one who started recording me and the girl during the sex session. Basit came and wanted to do his own but I told him the girl was a virgin. That was when he used his finger to break her hymen by poking her.

?This is my second time. I did the first one with a girl in my neighbourhood. She was my girlfriend. I started dating her a year ago. I told her that I wanted to sleep with her and she gave me a date. We did it on the date she gave me.?

Joshua, also in SSS3, told his side of the story: ?I was in my class that day. As I wanted to ease myself by a tree which is close to the bush, I heard some voices. I heard a girl pleading to be left and not to be ejaculated in. I got there and saw my colleagues with her. I was asked whether I was interested in sleeping with her also. I initially told them that I was not interested but was encouraged to do it. I tried to, but couldn?t penetrate. I saw that she was a virgin and left her. Basit came and poked her with his finger.?

Seun, who is in SSS1, said: ?We were on the field when the girls came. We went to them and took them to the bush. I picked one of them and asked that we should start dating. I took her to a spot in the bush and slept with her.?

Basit, in SSS3, told his side of the story: ?The female students came to our school. I saw one of them who was my girlfriend whom I dated when I was in JSS2. I had already missed her because that was when I last saw her, as her parents moved out of Ejioku Community, so I started discussing with her.

?I asked her if we could continue our relationship but she replied that she already had another boy. Others started picking each of other girls. I stayed with my own girl by the field side, but later asked her to allow me to check others. I saw Mayowa and Joshua with the girl they slept with. They told me that she was a virgin. I inserted my finger to check and discovered it was true. I had once slept with a girl in the same bush, but I didn?t rape her. She gave her consent. I have watched pornography video only once before.?

Seun?s half-brother, Sunday, aged 16, who is in SSS1 but already a father of one, was said to have impregnated another girl and had a son less than two months ago. His account showed that his latest attempted rape was unsuccessful because the girl he laid hands on was menstruating. He said: ?I knew one of the female students who came to our school on that day. It was at Lalupon that we knew each other then. When I took her inside the bush, I propositioned her and she told me she already had a guy. She asked for what I wanted and I told her to allow me to sleep with her. She answered that she would have allowed me but she was having her monthly period. To confirm this, I asked her to show me and she pulled down her tights and showed me her bulging underwear which indicated that she was truly menstruating. I left her.?

He confirmed having a child about two months ago but said the new mother was not raped. ?I proposed to her and she agreed. I slept with her and she became pregnant. She is currently nursing the baby while living with me and my mother,? he explained.

The female lawyer, who said that her organisation, Modupe Owonikoko Foundation, has taken up the matter, promised to make sure the suspects face justice to serve as deterrent to others who might want to commit such an act.

It was learnt that the case has been transferred to the Oyo State command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps for further investigation. (Sourced from Nigerian Tribune, excluding headline)

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