Olaniran Lateef, a secondary school teacher, has been taken into custody on charges of raping two girls in the Ogun State capital, Abeokuta.
The suspect, according to a statement released on Wednesday by Motunrayo Adeleye, the state’s commissioner for women’s affairs, is a 43-year-old maths teacher at Ebenezer Grammar School in the state’s Iberekodo region.
According to Adeleye, a report regarding an alleged rape was made against the suspect.
The commissioner went on to say that Lateef was apprehended while raping another woman by members of a ministry team and the police who had been sent to his home.
“On Saturday, a member of our team got a call from a young lady reporting that she had been raped by a man,” the statement reads.
“We swung into action and located her, took her to the laboratory to run several tests before taking her to the police station to make a report. We thereafter went with the police to the accused home but after several knocks, he refused to open the gate.
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“We were able to locate the brother of the house owner who assisted us in gaining access to the compound.
“We heard a girl’s cry for help when we got into the compound and with the support of the police, we caught Mr. Olaniran Lateef Adewale, a secondary school mathematics teacher at Ebenezer Grammar school Iberekodo, Abeokuta and a native of Ipokia local government of Ogun State with OGNO.30650 of Ogun State Teaching service commission.
“The girl with him also accused him of forcibly having sexual intercourse with her and threatening to kill her if she did not ask her family to send him money.”
The commissioner said the suspect had been remanded at the Ogun State police command headquarters pending further investigation.
“We use this opportunity to encourage anyone with useful information about this man to come forward and we also encourage rape victims to always report rape cases to the ministry,” she added.
“The victims will undergo counseling to help ease this unimaginable trauma.We say no more victim shaming! And we promise to get justice for the victims.”
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Responding to a query from the commissioner, the suspect claimed in a widely shared video that he had been speaking with the girls for a considerable amount of time.
The governor of Ogun, Dapo Abiodun, condemned the incident and stated that rape is a crime that had to be eliminated from society in a statement posted on X.
“I want to assure you that the government and law enforcement agencies are committed to tackling this issue head-on and ensuring justice prevails,” Abiodun said.
“Our collective voice must resound in unison, condemning these acts and demanding justice for the victims. Rape is a criminal offence that leaves lasting scars on its survivors—physically, emotionally, and mentally.
“No individual should experience such trauma or live in constant fear of becoming a victim. Our law enforcement agencies have intensified their efforts to investigate instances of sexual assault and apprehend the culprits.”