"When I Opened My Eyes, It Was Around 11 PM. I Was Naked Already, Feeling Pain All Over My Body"

A 22-year-old lady, identified only as Bimpe (not her real name), shared her horrific experience in an interview with The Punch correspondent. She recounted how three men gang-raped her in the Igando area of Lagos State.

Narrating how it happened, she said the incident occurred on Sunday, January 26, 2025. She had left Ayobo in Lagos State around 8 p.m. and boarded a bus heading to Igando. However, she didn’t take the bus from the park but joined it after getting off a tricycle when she heard the driver calling for passengers going to Igando.

Inside the bus, there was already a driver and one other passenger. The driver seemed to be in a hurry, saying he couldn’t take any more passengers because he needed to pick something up. He sounded impatient, so she quickly got in.

Not long after they left Ayobo, they picked up another passenger. She was on her phone at the time but found it hard to focus because she tends to feel nauseous whenever she is in a moving vehicle. To avoid discomfort, she put her phone inside her bag.

Bimpe explained that this was a normal experience for her, as she often suffers from motion sickness while traveling. After some time, she could no longer concentrate, and shortly after the new passenger got on the minibus, she suddenly dozed off.

She said:

*”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 burning sensation there. All the active parts of my body were hurting, and I was in deep pain. So, I knew that those guys must have done something to me.”*

Continuing her narration, the victim claimed that the men who assaulted her were still inside the bus when she woke up. After she regained consciousness, they brought out an axe and threatened her. They warned that if she didn’t cooperate, they would hit her on the head or stab her.

She recalled that all three of them were making incantations, and it sounded as if they were cultists. She could not remember everything they said because she was in shock and terrified. Later on, they forced her to unlock her phone, log into her bank app, and transfer all the money in her account—about N500,000—before abandoning her at the scene.