18-year-old Nigerian TV anchor drugged, gang-raped in primary school classroom

Ayoung Nigerian television personality was sexually brutalised by criminals shortly after concluding a shift over the weekend.

The 18-year-old woman, attached to a private station in Lapai, Niger State, was on her way home on Saturday when she received a call asking her to show up at Kobo Primary School in the community, about 150 kilometres west of the Nigerian capital Abuja, police said.

Upon arrival, the assailants promptly drugged and took turns to rape her in one of the school’s classrooms, police spokesman Abiodun Wasiu, told The Gazette on Tuesday morning. Her phone was also collected and searched by the assaulters, and Nigerian early and middle schools are closed on weekends.

The Gazette has withheld the victim’s contact on privacy grounds. But a family member said she would still come forward to tell her story after receiving proper medical treatment.

She was able to identify one of her attackers after the incident, and police said two people were taken into custody as investigation intensified into the matter.

“We are still investigating, and we are making efforts to arrest more suspects,” Abiodun said. “Whatever the situation is, we’ll let the public know later.”

It was not immediately clear whether the suspects, whose identities the police said would be released shortly, had reached their legal representatives.