Some men of the 32 Artillery Brigade have allegedly raped a student of the Adekunke Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko (AAUA) in Ondo State.
The incident reportedly occurred Wednesday evening at a military checkpoint between Owo and Ikare-Akoko in Akoko North-East Local Government.
Sources said the soldiers, who were attached to the Ikare Akoko checkpoint, allegedly raped the 300-level student of the Department of Religious and African Studies while she was returning home from the campus.
A student of the institution, who witnessed the incident, alleged that the soldiers were fond of molesting female students.
She said: “We were coming from Akungba in a mini-bus on Wednesday evening. On getting to the checkpoint, a soldier looked inside our vehicle, pointed to the victim and ordered her to get down. We didn’t know why he did that. When the lady alighted, he took her to their mini-barracks and asked us to leave the scene.
“Out of fear we left the place, hoping that she would be released immediately, but she was not released until one hour later. We discovered that she had been raped by the soldiers at the checkpoint.
“Immediately, we went to Ikare Police Station to report the incident and took the victim to Ondo State Specialist Hospital, Ikare-Akoko for examination and treatment. She is still in hospital and doctors have confirmed that she was raped.”
A source at the Ikare Police Station confirmed that the incident was reported at about 7:15pm on Wednesday, stressing that the police had stepped into the matter.
Police spokesman Femi Joseph said he was not briefed on the incident.
Brigade Commander of the 32 Artillery Brigade, Brig.-Gen. Zakari, said on the phone that he was at a meeting and promised to call back.
The AAUA management is investigating the incident.
The Head of Media and Protocol Unit, Mr. Victor Akinpelumi, confirmed that the management of the university was aware of the incident and had started its investigation.
