A 27- year-old man identified as Morufu Garba is currently cooling his heels in police net for defrauding and assaulting a 20 -year- old lady in Ebute-Metta area of Lagos, recently. The incident happened on the 12th of April, 2013 at about 10pm; when the victim identified as Aminat Ajala, a fashion designing apprentice at Ebute-Metta, returned from work; tired and hungry only to discover that there was no food in the house.
She opted to go get some toast bread at a shop not too far from her 91, Freeman street residence, where she and her siblings live with their maternal grand mother, after the untimely death of their biological mother. Little did she know that Morufu Garba, a notorious fraudster was lurking somewhere in the neighbourhood, looking for an opportunity to play a fast one on unsuspecting ladies, of which she soon became a victim.
Aminat Ajala told Crime Alert that she had walked few metres from her residence when she noticed that someone tapped her shoulders from behind; she turned to see a young man, walking close to her. He politely requested to have some chat with her, a request she granted.
From that moment on, she alleged she was not in control of actions that ensued; as Morufu, told her he is a prophet with a special message for her. He further told her that it was revealed to him that she will be dead the very next day if certain sacrifice was not carried out; to this he demanded that she provide the money by all means to enable him cancel the death spell hanging around her.
Afraid and under the influence of some power beyond her control, Aminat thought of ways to generate the money, as she had nothing on herself. She then revealed to Morufu that she is just an apprentice and has no money to that effect, he asked her if she knew any other means to raise the money, perhaps through her parents, or siblings, but warned her not to disclose the information to any one else.
At that suggestion, she told him her grand Ma, who owns a buka on the street, has some money stuck in a refrigerator somewhere in her shop, that she also knows where the key is kept. He escorted her back to her residence to get the key, after she succeeded with that, she led him to the shop, and opened it.
They opened the door and went straight to the refrigerator, she tried opening it, but encountered some difficulties as the padlock used in locking it could not open. Morufu went out side, found an axe placed at a corner near the shop and used it to forcefully open the refrigerator and took over N80,000 kept there.
He then took her to meet another victim of his, a 22- year- old hair dressing apprentice identified as Ruka, who lives on the neighboring Glover street at Ebute-Metta, he claimed he was trying to also help perform some sacrifice to stop her mother from destroying her life. He had charged her N10,000; and she gave him N1,500, as what she had on her then.
They agreed he will get the money over the weekend. After that, he led her to the venue where he was to perform the sacrifice, some where in Makoko area of Lagos. On getting there, he took her to a one room apartment, spread a mat on the floor and asked her to take off her clothes and lie on the mat.
She obeyed, and all she can recall was that she was ráped. When he was done with his “sacrifice”, he inserted some objects suspected to be charm into her priváte part, and abandoned her there. The next day, still under the influence of the charm, the lady managed to gather herself and left the place, but she had no clue where she was. She was later found wandering in Makoko area by one of her neighbours from Freeman street. “He noticed my unusual behavior and suspected that something must have gone wrong somewhere , he brought me home.
Crime Alert also gathered that members of the Ajala household were worried over the unusual disappearance of Aminat from home. It was gathered that after they waited for her to return home with the toast bread to no avail, her grand mother, popularly called Alhaja was worse hit, as she was said to be apprehensive of the thought of what might have happened to her grand-daughter, not after their mother died at a premature age. She had organized a search party, and stayed awake till the next morning when Aminat was brought back by the neighbour. Recovery from the ordeal
After Aminat was brought back home, the case was reported to the Oyingbo police station and she was taken to a clinic for medical check up, which confirmed that she was ráped and bleeding. Aminát gave her statement after she recovered from the ordeal. But when she took the policemen to the house where she was ráped, Morufu was no where to be found. When inquiries were made, neighbours at the place said they don’t know any body with the identity they described.
To affect Morufu’s arrest, the Oyingbo police DPO invited Ruka, whom he was expecting N10,000 from, and tactically asked her to place a call to Garba on the number he gave her, to come get the money at Makoko junction. He swiftly came, and was arrested on the spot and thereafter charged to court. Information from the court disclosed that Morufu Garba has been charged for a similar case in the past.
Imagine using the name of God to commit crime.
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