A 22-year-old lady has narrated how she boarded a commercial bus operated by criminals and got gang-r@ped in Lagos.
The lady, identified as Bimpe (not her real name) told the Punch the incident happened to her in the Igando area of Lagos
The 22-year-old student said she left her home at Ayobo on Sunday, January 26, 2025, around 8 pm and boarded a bus going to Igando.
“Although I didn’t take the bus from the park, I joined it after I alighted from a tricycle because the driver was shouting Igando. I met a guy and the driver inside the bus, and the driver was in a hurry, saying he could not carry another passenger because he wanted to pick up something somewhere.
He sounded like someone in haste. So, I quickly entered, and on our way, not long after we left Ayobo, we picked another guy up. So, I was on my phone when this whole scenario happened but I could not concentrate on my phone again because I used to feel like throwing up whenever I was inside a bus. I just put my phone inside the bag.
That’s normal for me anytime I’m inside a car or bus. I often have motion sickness. So, I could not concentrate on my phone anymore, and I noticed that not quite long after the other guy entered the bus, I dozed off immediately.
When I opened my eyes, it was around 11 pm, and I found myself at the back of the Igando BRT (Bus Rapid Transit). I was naked already and feeling pain all over my body. My genitals were swollen, and I had a peppery sensation there. All the active parts of my body were paining me and I was deeply feeling the pain. So, I knew that those guys must have done something to me.”
According to her narration, the men were still there when she woke up. She said they brought out an axe and threatened to k!ll her if she did not cooperate.
“The three of them were making incantations and it sounded as if they were cultists. I could not remember the other things they said because I was scared and in shock. Later on, they asked me to unlock my phone, log into my bank app, and they transferred all the money there.
They transferred N500,000 from my Opay account.
Immediately I unlocked my bank app, they asked for my password. Everything, including the SIM card, was inside the phone. I’ve been trying to log into my account but the SIM was inside the phone, which was collected and taken away. They collected the phone, did everything by themselves, and gave it back to me to log out of my iCloud. They eventually took the phone away. So, I can’t know the name of the account the money was transferred to. I’m so traumatised talking about the incident.”
After they were through with her, the thugs pushed her out of the bus n@ked.
“They pushed me out of the bus naked after collecting my phone. So, when I got back in the morning, I texted TalesWithBlessed with my other phone at home. I explained everything to her and she advised me to go to the general hospital for some tests and examinations. At the hospital, they took my blood sample and I’ve received the results of the tests but they didn’t find anything serious. They also took a sample of their sperm deposit for a DNA test.”
When asked if she could recognise them, she said the three men had put on masks by the time she woke up.
Unfortunately, when she boarded the bus, she did not pay attention to their faces because she was on the phone.
“It was a minibus; so, I sat in the middle row and it was just two rows there. One guy sat beside me and the other sat in the back seat,” she said.
At the hospital, she said she was given drugs for infection and pain as she had a tear.
She said she was also given PrEp (Pre-exposure prophylaxis).
“It is also a medication to prevent any further infection or disease like HIV.
When asked how she felt, she said:
“I was scared and it was just like a dream. I was traumatised and shaking. So, when I opened my eyes inside the bus, they were already done with what they wanted to do except for the phone aspect. I just logged out of my iCloud, and the bank transaction, and I was pushed down from the bus.”
She said she had not told her surviving parent, her mother, because she was hypertensive.
“My dad is late but I have a mum. She’s hypertensive; so, I don’t want to tell her anything for now so that it won’t affect her health, although I’ve seen a counsellor for therapy. I used to be friends with the counsellor before around Governor Road, and I’ve started therapy already. I’ve not informed anybody close to me about the incident except TalesWithBlessed, the hospital, and the police.
I wrote a statement about everything that happened. I took the test results, medical checkup, and everything to them. So, they (police officers) asked me to write the statement. I took them to the spot where it happened and after that, I left and went back again on Tuesday, and they gave me back the report.”
When asked if the police treated her well, she said:
“They tried because they didn’t treat me badly. They were calm and it was nice with the way they were talking. I was also informed that they were already working on it.
I’ve learnt my lesson that someone should be conscious of his or her environment. For instance, if I wasn’t carried away by my phone, the ugly incident might not have happened. I think they noticed that maybe this person is addicted to her phone or concentrates more on the phone than on anything within her surroundings. That was what I thought because I never imagined something like this could happen to me.
I won’t lie; on Monday, I was thinking about suicide. It was the anchor of TalesWithBlessed on TikTok who I texted that I needed someone; an adult to talk to. She sent her contact details and I called her.”
