by Oge Okonkwo

The  Ebute Meta Magistrate’s Court was told by a  23-year-old housemaid, Comfort Ashati, how two brothers in their thirties,  Tony and Emmanuel Ibiaji, overpowered, tortured and raped her at their house in  Isheri area of Lagos State, in May 2012.

The brothers, who lived in the same building with their father, Williams Ibiaji, barged into her room, assaulted and tore her panties before raping her employed her shortly after their mother’s death.

Comfort was employed by Mr. Williams, shortly after the death of their mother.

Reports say:

She said, “I started working for Mr. Williams (Ibiaji) through an agent who took me to their house when I was looking for a job. He needed a housemaid because he had just lost his wife.

“However, his sons – Tony and Emmanuel- did not like me. They said I should leave the house, but their father told me to ignore them since he was the one that employed me.

“I had been staying there for almost two years when the incident happened. On that day, the two of them entered my room and began to beat me. They also tore my clothes. I could not fight them off because they were too big. That was how I was beaten up and raped by the two of them.”

Ashati told the court that she later managed to run into the room of a couple who gave her clothes.

She said, “They also came into the house. The man begged them to leave me, but because one of them had a knife, they entered and continued beating me. I later escaped by jumping a fence to another building.”

The victim also alleged that the men later went to her room, where they stole her N84,000.

However, while being cross-examined, the defendant’s lawyer, Mr. Loius Nwaugbala, said the housemaid made up the story.

Nwagbala said, “I put it to you, that nobody raped, beat, or messed you up. All these are mere fabrications by you.”

The Investigating Police Officer, Sergeant Bakare Murtala, from the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, told the court that he was informed that Ashati had been invited to a peace meeting by the Ibiaji family to resolve the matter. She was said to have demanded N500,000 as compensation.

He said he did not visit the scene of the crime but took the statements of all parties.

The prosecutor, Mr. Richard Odige, told the court that three more witnesses were still on the standby, including a medical practitioner, who would give evidence on the alleged rape.

The magistrate, Ms S.O Solabo, adjourned the case till September 11