Olaniran Adewale, a 40-year-old secondary school teacher, was taken into custody by the Ogun State Police Command on Wednesday, according to reports of his alleged sexual assault of defenseless girls.
Our correspondent received confirmation of this from SP Omolola Odutola, the state police command spokeswoman.
Olaniran taught mathematics at Ebenezer Grammar School in Iberekodo, Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun state, prior to his imprisonment.
The instructor is a native of the state’s Ipokia Local Government Area.
“On your inquiries on the 4th of November, 2023, a case of suspected rape was reported by a Director in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs. Kazeem Wonuola,” Odutola said in an interview with our correspondent.
“She reported that one Lateef Olaniran aged 40 of number 50, Ifelodun Street, Obantoko, Abeokuta and a teacher with Ebenezer Grammar School, Iberekodo, Abeokuta, was in the habit of luring innocent girls into his house after which he would rape them.
“Can you also imagine that the very day the police went after the suspect, he was met allegedly perpetrating the same evil and it took the interventions of the police to rescue his victim?
“The Commissioner of Police, CP Alamutu Abiodun, has zero tolerance for any case of sexual offenses, I can’t even begin to list the numbers of those cases that had been charged to court under his watch. We have been having lots of support too from those non-governmental organisations that are into the protection of the rights of women. Once the investigation is completed, definitely the suspect will pay for the crime.”
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Motunrayo Adeleye, had also on Wednesday, on her X handle, spoken about the arrest of Olaniran.
Adeleye said that a member of her team was contacted by one of the suspect’s victims, saying immediate action was taken to investigate the case.
She said,
“On Saturday, a member of our team got a call from a young lady reporting that she has been raped by a man. We swung into action located her, and 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’s home but after several knocks, he refused to open the gate. 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. 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.
“Mr. Olaniran has been remanded at the Ogun State Command Headquarters pending more investigation by the police.”
Meanwhile, the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, has described rape as a criminal offence in the state and urged rape victims to always report cases to the ministry.
Abiodun, in a post shared by his Special Assistant on New Media, Emmanuel Ojo, said,
“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.
“I want to assure you that the government and law enforcement agencies are committed to tackling this issue head-on and ensuring justice prevails.”