student has been
hospitalised, after
she was allegedly
pushed down from
the third floor of a
building in Lagos,
following a
disagreement with a
man she met on the
social network, Facebook.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Akabugu
Nkiruka sustained multiple injuries, including a
pelvis fracture, and was undergoing surgery at the
General Hospital, Marina, Lagos, on Tuesday.
Nkiruka, a Linguistics student of the University of
Lagos, told NAN on her hospital bed that she met the
young man through the social media, barely a week
before the November 1 incident.
She told NAN that the 26-year-old man (name
withheld) last Wednesday invited her to a night club
in Apapa from where they ended up in his family
home at 1004 Estate, Victoria Island, Lagos.
She noted that the young man had earlier talked
about sex on the phone prior to the outing but she
told him she was menstruating.
Nkiruka said on getting to the house, the man tore
her dress and tried to rape her.
According to Nkiruka, the man thereafter pushed her
down from the third floor of the building because she
refused to have sex with him.
When contacted, the man's mother, who was at
home on the night of the incident, however, told NAN
that she was not aware of what happened.
She said she slept around 10pm, while the
disagreement between the couple started much
later.
The mother, who pleaded anonymity, said she paid
part of the hospital bill immediately after Nkiruka
was admitted, and even tried to transfer her to a
private hospital.
"I took her as our own daughter and so, I can do
anything that will make her recover quickly,'' she
added.
She insisted that her preliminary inquiry indicated
that Nkiruka was not pushed by her son as alleged,
but that she jumped on her own in the ensuing
scuffle.
When contacted, the Divisional Police Officer of Bar
Beach, Victoria Island, Lagos, Mr. Fayoade Adegoke,
told NAN that Nkiruka wrote in her statement that
she jumped on her own, in order to escape being
raped.
Adegoke said he ordered his men to convey the
victim to the hospital immediately after he was
informed of the incident by security guards in the
area.
The DPO said the suspect was released on bail,
pending further investigation into the matter.
NAN recalls that seven young men, including two
who met a 24-year-old post-graduate student,
Cynthia Osokogu, on facebook, are currently facing
trial for allegedly raping and killing her in Lagos
earlier this year.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
