Soji Ezekiel, a man presently serving a one-year National Youth Service Corps term, was detained by Osun State police on suspicion of raping an Osun State University undergraduate.
The female victim (name withheld) allegedly went to Soji’s room to charge her phone after he allegedly took advantage of the local power outage to force her to go to bed with him in the Oke-Baale neighbourhood of Osogbo Local Government Area of the state behind Nawarudeen Primary School.
It was learned that the student, who lives off-campus, went to Soji’s flat with a friend on Friday, February 16, 2024, in order to charge her phone.
After the two ladies got into the suspect’s place, the victim’s friend reportedly left the room immediately after plugging her phone to attend to other things but before she could return to check her phone, her friend had been screaming in the room as Soji, also known as SOJ, allegedly raped her twice.
The corps member allegedly threatened to kill the woman with a bottle if she did not enable him to satiate his sexual desire. He was reportedly stationed in Ilorin, Kwara State, but frequently visits Osogbo during his breaks.
Further information revealed that the culprit would not open his door despite neighbours constantly banging it and attempting to save the female undergraduate.
Witnesses claim that in the early hours of Saturday, February 17, the culprit opened his apartment door and released the victim after a nearby vigilante officer arrived with a gun and fired shots into the air.
Later, a group of police officers showed up and took Soji into custody.
Some residents notified a human rights activist, Citizen Lola Wey who followed the matter up and brought it to the attention of the state government.
“The victim had been taken to the hospital for necessary medical examination and treatment. The police are already involved and they arrested the suspect. However, I heard they have granted him bail. But, we will assist the victim in getting justice because she was highly traumatized by the incident,” Wey said.
When Soji was contacted on the telephone to get his own side of the story, he neither admitted nor denied the accusations, saying the State Criminal Investigation Department had taken over the matter.
He said, “The case is already with the State CID and we are on it. I met with their lawyer (victim’s lawyer) and we went to the hospital for a medical test and the police were there. So, now, I don’t think I have anything to say unless we are with the police. The police are doing their job.”