A security guard attached to the Kogi State Polytechnic has been arrested by the police for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl in the campus.
The institution’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Luke Tijani, who confirmed the story, disclosed that the guard, Macaulay, had been taken into police custody.
It was learnt that Macaulay was a guard with Engineering School, Osara, a wing of the polytechnic.
The suspect, on September 13, allegedly pounced on a 17-year-old Interim Joint Matriculation Board (IJMB) student and violated her, an action, which attracted the ire of students, causing chaos.
Investigation revealed that Macaulay had once been accused of rape in 2014 in the same institution.
A source said that after that allegation in 2014, everyone had expected that the guard would be sacked, but the management, for reasons unknown, were reluctant in sacking him.
However, angry students allegedly attacked Macaulay and almost skinned him alive, but for the timely intervention of Mobile policemen.
A video clip, showing how students pummelled the guard, was circulated on the social media and also made available to our correspondent. The video also caught the attention of the Mobile policemen.
The victim’s elder sister, who refused to disclose her name or that of the victim, insisting that she didn’t want her family to be stigmatised, explained that her 17-year-old younger sister and other students went to read in the school hall about midnight, when Macaulay, who was on duty, was at the school clinic, walked into the reading hall uninvited.
She said: “The light went off and students started leaving the hall for their hostels. My sister was with a friend of hers, named Moses, who we all know well at home. They were packing their books when the guard came to them in the hall and accused them of having sex in the hall. He started beating them.
“In the process, the guard tried to pull off my sister’s dress, but Moses tried to defend her. It was at that point that the guard used his torch and hit Moses on the head. He tore my sister’s dress and began to snap fake pictures of them. He threatened to report them to the school authorities. He then seized Moses’ phone and asked him to go and bring money for his broken torch.”
The victim’s sister added that Macaulay later deliberately sent Moses back to the hostel, with promises that he was going to accompany the victim to the Girls Hostel.
She said: “On getting to the female hostel, he told my sister that the pictures of her which he took would be sent to the Dean and that she must ‘sleep’ with him before he released her. She refused and he threatened her with a cutlass, and then carried her and dragged her across the road to the staff quarters. Eventually, he overpowered and took her to his quarters, where he raped her.
“After that he released her from the house, he allowed her back to the school premises. The school has no gate, so it was easier for him to perpetuate the act. My sister went to the school clinic and reported. She was treated there and given a medical report that confirmed she was raped. The following morning, the guard was arrested and taken to the police station after students of the school attacked him. The issue was transferred to Lokoja Police Headquarters.”
Asked what the family wanted in form of justice, the angry lady said: “I want him to suffer for what he did to my sister. My sister is just 17 years old. She is the quiet type and that was why he took advantage of her.”
She alleged that Macaulay had been raping girls and had a case file for rape in 2014.
The victim’s mother, who also didn’t want her name mentioned, said that since the incident, the 17-year-old girl had been living in trauma.
She said: “We’re beginning to be scared. I’m a civil servant under the state civil service; we have not received a dime as salary for over two years now. I would have taken her to another school if not for the financial crises I’m facing. I don’t know how she is going to fit into that school.”
Confirming that police had arrested the guard, Tijani said that it was only the police that could say the action would be taken against the guard.
Our correspondent also drove to the polytechnic, in an attempt to speak with the rector, but was told the rector was out of town.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. William Aya, promised to get back to our correspondent. But at press time, he was yet to do so.
Credit: New Telegraph
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