We had been in our neighborhood for about 7 years without any robbery attacks or loss of properties. It was a safe haven until one of the landlords on our street put up his house for sale. After about 6 months the house was sold to a business man who deals in car spare parts in a major market close to the area. He had many boys working with him and they lived on the said compound.
Suddenly, our street became a hide out for robbers and the boys always returned home very late every night. We could not do anything because we could not ascertain their relationship with the so called robbers.
Initially we thought the robbers came from outside the vicinity and were too armed to be challenged or stopped so we resorted to laying our complaints to the police hoping that they will come up with solutions to our security challenge.
We had retired to bed one night when we were suddenly awakened by the orders of some armed robbers in the hood. We were all asked to open all doors and wait for our turns to be robbed. I tried to peep through the window and what I saw was scary. More than forty men with guns matching in to the different houses and I could not tell how many more were inside various compounds.
When they got to our house, they took away valuables and one of the robbers insisted on raping me. I pleaded with him but he said he must have me so I would know that the life was not about “Speaking British English”. He insisted and raped me. While he was on me, I smelt this perfume and there is this mark on his shoulder like it was a written set of alphabets. I continued to observe the mark until he finished and I also took note of his voice.
My mother was also raped by another robber and we were warned to stay indoors afterwards with threats of being killed if we acted otherwise.
Two weeks after the robbery, I went across the road to buy some drinks and I saw a man looking at me from the other end of the road but I did not bother confirming who it was but I saw the face clearly.
A few days later, I saw him again away from our neighborhood and this time he was working on a vehicle wearing a sleeveless shirt. On seeing the mark on his shoulder, I walked a little closer through the part of the road they were and I confirmed he was the one who raped me. I tried really hard to have a grip of myself. On getting home I narrated all that had happened to my mother and she warned me to stay away from him and that I should not report to any security agency. I forgot all about it and moved on.
A few months later, I went out with some friends to a bar and behold he was there dressed like the gentle man he is not. One of my friends got us introduced. His name is David and his friends call him Dave but unknown to him I know his robbery name is Hammer.
We became friends and exchanged numbers. All this while I was trying to figure out how to get him arrested but I was also scared.
Eventually, my fiancé asked my family to move to the UK with him and my mother left for the UK with my other sibling and our house was almost empty as we moved most of our properties to the village with the plan to rent it out to tenants.
David started trying to date me and I agreed to his proposal. One day, I told him I had lost my Driver Licence and needed to make a police report at the headquarters and begged him to follow me there. He refused initially but with a little pressure from me he agreed.
As we walked in to the compound, I noticed he was not comfortable but I pretended to be engrossed in a discussion with him. When we got to the counter, and the officers asked to know what we came to do and I said I lost my Driver License and needed Police Report. They sort to find out how I lost it and I pointed at him that he came with his gang and raped my mother and I and made away with the bag containing the Driver License. He was shocked and could not utter a word. The police officer asked if I knew the gravity of the allegation and I replied in the affirmative. He was handcuffed and taken in for interrogation while the other police men continued to ask me questions on the night of the robbery. I left the police station late that night and also informed our neighbors who came as soon as they heard.
Our neighbors identified him as one of the boys working for the man that sells vehicle spare parts. After much grilling, he started singing. A lot of people were arrested and the house was taken over by the police.
I left for the UK a few weeks later.
