by S’ola Filani

While travelling to their village for the weekend, a middle aged nursing mother, her three months old baby and husband had an unpleasant encounter with an eight-man gang a few days ago in Kogi state.

The eight man gang dispossessed them of their cash and valuables at gunpoint, took them in the family car to a near­by bush where they tied the husband and raped the wife who was at that time breast feeding her three-month-old baby.

Parading the suspects before newsmen, the Acting Commissioner of Police, Kogi state, Mr Abiodun Odude said the family was travelling from Ogugu in Olamaboro Local Government Area, Kogi State to Iga-Ikeje when the robbers accosted them.

Odude said the victim (names withheld) a native of Ogugu reported at the Olamaboro Police Division and stated that he was travelling in his Toyota Corolla car with his wife and baby when suddenly some eight armed robbers accosted them, dis­possessing them of their car, N6600 cash and mobile phone sets.

The alleged robbers then bundled them into the vehicle and drove them inside the bush about two kilometres from the road, where the man was tied to a tree prior to raping the wife.

Giving further explanation of what transpired, he said the wife who was oblivious of their plan as she was crying and begging them not to kill her husband.

In response to her pleas, one of the robbers gave her a vicious slap, took the baby away and ordered her to undress, while point­ing a gun to her head.

He said the woman fainted after the ordeal – they took turns in raping her in the presence of her helpless husband.

Done with their evil business, they tied up her legs and drove away in the car.

After about 40 minutes, the woman regained consciousness, struggled to free herself and walked to a nearby village, where she informed a group of vigilantes, who later rescued the husband.

On receiving the report, a police patrol team led by Mr. Mbang Eteng, an Assistant Superintendent of Police tracked down and arrested two of the robbers, whose names were given as Vincent Oguche from an uncompleted building, and Femi Simon, who attempted to run away, but was overpowered by policemen and both of them taken into custody.

The police said the two suspects in the course of interrogation confessed to the crime and thereafter led the detectives to their hideout, where the stolen car, assorted guns and handsets were recovered.

Vincent Oguche while acknowledging that he and the others actually committed the heinous crime, explained why they raped the woman despite that she was nursing a baby, saying: “We were not in our right sense because we were very high on drugs.”

The other suspect said he could not control his libido when he saw his comrades-in-crime ‘enjoying themselves’ so he had to join them to have a taste of the woman.

The police are still on the trail of the remaining four members who are still at large.