The police in Lagos have arrested a commercial bus driver, identified only as Akeem, and his conductor, Sodiq, for allegedly robbing and raping a 22-year-old lady in the Costain, Iponri area of the state.

Akeem and Sodiq, along with two others still at large, had picked the victim, Mercy (pseudonym) from the Obalende area, and were supposed to head for the Victoria Island where the victim reportedly had a job interview.

Mercy, who hails from Otupko, Benue State, and holds a Nigerian Certificate in Education, on March 10, had been called by a friend to attend the job interview.

The suspects allegedly diverted to the Costain, Iponri area, assuring their victim that they were only taking a different route to the island.

When the bus got to Costain, under the bridge, the four allegedly robbed Mercy of her ATM card, her purse and other documents. The suspects also allegedly raped the lady before driving off.

After the robbery, the victim went to report the matter at the Iponri Police Division.

The suspects were not found until last Tuesday when members of a vigilance group in the area, who were also informed about the matter, nabbed the driver and his conductor and handed them over to the police.

Speaking with Punch, Mercy said the suspects confused her because she was new in Lagos and she was not familiar with most of the roads.

She said, “On that day, I was at Obalende when my friend called me that there was a job interview on the Victoria Island. So I entered a bus heading to the area. Not long after, three men entered as well. The driver drove towards CMS; when I inquired, the other passengers said I should be calm as he was still heading for the Island. I thought he was trying to avoid the traffic.

“When we got to the bridge in Costain, they stopped and they collected my purse, mobile phone, ATM card, PIN and N2,000 cash on me. After they left, I told my elder brother that some men had attacked me.

“He came and we both went to the Iponri division to make a report, but the robbers had withdrawn N120,000 through the ATM.”

An executive of the vigilance group, Ishola Musbau, said, “The case of a jobseeker being raped and robbed by miscreants was brought to our attention. It took us two weeks to fish out Akeem and Sodiq, and the victim identified them.

“The driver and the conductor were apprehended at a hideout in Itumara, Costain, where they usually gathered for robbery operations.”

Nigeria has recorded the first successful birth of a baby conceived from frozen egg of a 44-year-old woman, who had suffered infertility for eight years, making it the first in the country and West Africa.

The birth and conception of the baby, named Tiwatope, which is the 5001st in the world, were carried out by Nigerian fertility specialists at The Bridge Clinic, a Lagos-based fertility treatment centre, where the mother had her eggs frozen using the vitrification (flash-freezing) process (oocyte cryopreservation).

Oocyte cryopreservation is the cooling of female eggs to sub-zero temperature in order to stop all biological activity and preserve them for future use.

According to the fertility physician at the clinic, Dr. Emmanuel Owie, who spoke at a press briefing organised by the hospital in Lagos on Thursday, this is the first of a baby that would be conceived and born using this assisted reproductive technology in West Africa.

Owie said the eggs from the mother were frozen using liquid nitrogen for two months before they were used for the In-Vitro Fertilisation procedure for the couple.

He said, “It was the second attempt using this IVF technique for the couple and they have been trying to conceive for the last eight years. We also have been perfecting oocyte cryopreservation for five years. It is the first live birth in West Africa. It is a novel technique developed in Europe and North America.

The Coordinator, Corporate Communications and Client Services, Dr. Ekundayo Omogbehin, noted that with this feat, Nigerian women need not travel to Indian and United Kingdom hospitals to have their eggs frozen till when they are ready to have babies.

Omogbehin said, “We hope that this will make Nigerians realise that they can get what they travel abroad for in Nigeria at cheaper rate with the same standard. We also hope that more Nigerian women who have conceived through novel IVF techniques can come out and talk about it to give other fertility challenged couples hope.

“Egg freezing is for women who have been diagnosed with cancer who may lose their fertility during chemotherapy; women with a family history of early menopause and women who want to delay child bearing for moral or personal reasons.”

The desperation to get rid of the unwanted child led her to trade off the first fruits of her womb to a couple who also have been waiting desperately for a fruit of the womb for over six years.

17 year old Tessy Obianua, a secondary school drop-out ate the “forbidden fruit” and was made pregnant by one of her acquaintances, Shola.

The shame led her to elope when the pregnancy was five months old and the protruding tummy was becoming a source of embarrassment for her and her parents at their Ogbese camp in Akure North area of Ondo State.

Without the knowledge of her parents Mr and Mrs Henry Obianua , Tessy left with another man Jude Azuka for Onitsha, to escape the prying eyes of neighbours and others who may jest of her. The father was said to have been flabbergasted when Tessy who disappeared with the five month old pregnancy re-surfaced after nine months without a baby which was the evidence of the pregnancy.

When Tessy disappeared, the father had lodged a complaint via a petition at the Police station that his pregnant daughter was missing and detectives were deployed to smoke her out with the pregnancy.

But a Police source hinted that Jude who was a neighbour of Tessy’s parents seized the opportunity of her condition to lure her to Onitsha where he promised to link her to a “ good Samaritan” that will take care of her,the pregnancy and even the baby after birth.

Tessy was ferried to Onitsha and put in the custody of Mrs Chibuzor Okoye who housed her until she gave birth to a baby girl which she also helped her nurse. Unknown to Tessy that Jude was one of the agents of Mrs Okoye who is a child trafficker, she was reportedly given special treatment throughout her stay with the Mrs Okoye at No 3 Tonny Olisa street Awada in Onitsha.

When she was put in the picture of what would be the fate of her “unwanted child” Tessy according to the Police source had no choice than to agree with them. While Tessy and the little baby were enjoying the luxury provided by Mrs Okoye, a deal had been struck on how much a desperate couple who had been looking for a baby was willing to pay on her.

Police source told Vanguard that a drama ensued when the couple came to the house of Mrs Okoye to collect the baby after the payment of N500,000. Tessy was said to have put up a fight, vowing she would not let go her baby and it reportedly took the intervention of Jude who brought her to Onitsha before she allowed the couple Mr and Mrs Sunday Kalu to go with her.

Sensing that Tessy may have a re-think and probably want to make trouble, they suggested to both Jude and Mrs Okoye that she (Tessy) should sign an undertaking that she would never come back for the baby. After that was done, the baby was taken away and Tessy was settled with N30,000 cash while some new clothes and shoes were equally bought for her from the sale of her baby girl.

The desperation to get rid of the unwanted child led her to trade off the first fruits of her womb to a couple who also have been waiting desperately for a fruit of the womb for over six years.

17 year old Tessy Obianua, a secondary school drop-out ate the “forbidden fruit”and was made pregnant by one of her acquaintances, Shola.

The shame led her to elope when the pregnancy was five months old and the protruding tummy was becoming a source of embarrassment for her and her parents at their Ogbese camp in Akure North area of Ondo State.

Without the knowledge of her parents Mr and Mrs Henry Obianua , Tessy left with another man Jude Azuka for Onitsha, to escape the prying eyes of neighbours and others who may jest of her. The father was said to have been flabbergasted when Tessy who disappeared with the five month old pregnancy re-surfaced after nine months without a baby which was the evidence of the pregnancy.

When Tessy disappeared, the father had lodged a complaint via a petition at the Police station that his pregnant daughter was missing and detectives were deployed to smoke her out with the pregnancy.

But a Police source hinted that Jude who was a neighbour of Tessy’s parents seized the opportunity of her condition to lure her to Onitsha where he promised to link her to a “ good Samaritan” that will take care of her,the pregnancy and even the baby after birth.

Tessy was ferried to Onitsha and put in the custody of Mrs Chibuzor Okoye who housed her until she gave birth to a baby girl which she also helped her nurse. Unknown to Tessy that Jude was one of the agents of Mrs Okoye who is a child trafficker, she was reportedly given special treatment throughout her stay with the Mrs Okoye at No 3 Tonny Olisa street Awada in Onitsha.

When she was put in the picture of what would be the fate of her “unwanted child” Tessy according to the Police source had no choice than to agree with them. While Tessy and the little baby were enjoying the luxury provided by Mrs Okoye, a deal had been struck on how much a desperate couple who had been looking for a baby was willing to pay on her.

Police source told Vanguard that a drama ensued when the couple came to the house of Mrs Okoye to collect the baby after the payment of N500,000. Tessy was said to have put up a fight, vowing she would not let go her baby and it reportedly took the intervention of Jude who brought her to Onitsha before she allowed the couple Mr and Mrs Sunday Kalu to go with her.

Sensing that Tessy may have a re-think and probably want to make trouble, they suggested to both Jude and Mrs Okoye that she (Tessy) should sign an undertaking that she would never come back for the baby. After that was done, the baby was taken away and Tessy was settled with N30,000 cash while some new clothes and shoes were equally bought for her from the sale of her baby girl.

But the 17-year old girl in an interview denied having knowledge of the whole transaction saying she was handed N30,000 after she discovered that her baby had disappeared while she was asleep.

She said that she later learnt from Jude that N500,000 was collected by them from a couple in need of a baby.

Tessy told Vanguard when she was paraded alongside with four other suspects of the child trafficking and the couple that Mrs Okoye and Jude should be held responsible for the disappearance of her baby.

She said because she was not in support of the sale of the baby that was why she exposed the child trafficker to her uncle who informed the police and she was arrested.

The story told by Mrs Okoye differed as she told Vanguard that Tessy was lying and that she was handed over her share of the money while Jude also collected his share. She said that N200,000 was given to Jude out of the sales while she took N300,000.

The burble reportedly burst when Tessy after she re-surfaced didn’t come with a baby and the father became suspicious and raised alarm. She later confessed that their neighbour, Jude Okoye sold her baby girl to a couple in Onitsha, Anambra state.

Detectives later traced both Mrs Okoye and Jude to Onitsha where they were both apprehended and brought back to Akure, the Ondo State capital. The five suspects are presently cooling their heels at the Criminal Investigation Bureau CID division of the state police command.