Job seeker robbed, raped by driver, conductor

A Danfo driver and his conductor has been arrested for allegedly robbing and gang-raping a job seeker in Lagos. A 22-year-old job seeker identified ad Mercy, has more pains to contend with after a 'Danfo' (Commercial bus driver), identified as Akeem and his conductor, Sodiq, abducted her before robbing and gang-raping her in the Costain, Iponri area of Lagos State.
It was gathered that Akeem and Sodiq, along with two others still at large, had picked the victim from the Obalende area and were supposed to head for the Victoria Island where she reportedly had a job interview. The Otukpo, Benue State born Mercy, who holds a Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE), narrated that on March 10, she was called by a friend to attend the job interview, and had joined the vehicle early in the morning. But on getting to the Costain area, the suspects diverted the vehicle, assuring her that they were only taking a different route to the island to avoid traffic. But when the bus got to under bridge at Costain, a notoriously dangerous spot, they stopped the vehicle while the four of them robbed the lady of her Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card, her purse and other documents, then gang-raped her before driving off. After the attack, the victim went to report the matter at the Iponri Police Division and after painstaking investigations, the two suspects were nabbed two weeks later by members of a vigilance group in the area, who were also informed about the matter, and handed them over to the police.

The victim, while narrating her plight, said: “On that day, I was at Obalende when my friend called me that there was a job interview on the Victoria Island. So I entered a bus heading to the area. Not long after, three men entered as well. The driver drove towards CMS; when I inquired, the other passengers said I should be calm as he was still heading for the Island. I thought he was trying to avoid the traffic. When we got to the bridge in Costain, they stopped and they collected my purse, mobile phone, ATM card, PIN and N2,000 cash on me. After they left, I told my elder brother that some men had attacked me. He came and we both went to the Iponri division to make a report, but the robbers had withdrawn N120,000 through the ATM.” An executive of the vigilance group, Ishola Musbau, narrated how the suspects were apprehended: “The case of a job seeker being raped and robbed by miscreants was brought to our attention. It took us two weeks to fish out Akeem and Sodiq, and the victim identified them. The driver and the conductor were apprehended at a hideout in Itumara, Costain, where they usually gathered for robbery operations.”