The Lagos State Police Command, on Wednesday, arraigned a commercial bus driver, Jelili Lawal, for allegedly raping a septuagenarian.
The 78-year-old woman, who was returning to her place of residence in the Ketu area of Lagos, had missed her way when Lawal offered her a lift to her destination.
The woman, who was delighted at Lawal’s offer, never suspected that he had other intentions but he drove to another location, where he allegedly raped the victim.
The state Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, had while parading Lawal said, “On Tuesday, January 1, 2019, around 8pm, a woman, 78, met one Jelili Lawal, 41, a bus driver, at Maryland and told him that she had missed her way and did not know how to get to her house in Ketu.
“Jelili Lawal offered to help her. The woman was delighted and she boarded the bus, unknown to her that Lawal had other intentions.
“The suspect drove the victim to a location in Oloti village, off Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, and raped her without regard to her age. While the suspect was at it, the woman let out a cry that attracted someone in the neighbourhood, who quickly called the police and directed them to the location where the cry emanated from.
“That was how the police caught the suspect in the act and rescued the old woman, who was already bleeding from her private parts as a result of the assault on her dignity.”
Lawal was arraigned on Wednesday on one count of rape.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Raphael Donny, told the court that the offence was committed on January 1, 2019, around 8pm at Oloti Village, off Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja.
The offence, according to Donny, contravenes Section 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (revised).
The Chief Magistrate, Mrs B. O. Osunsanmi, ordered that Lawal should be remanded in the Kirikiri Prison pending advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
She adjourned the case till February 18, 2019, for hearing.
