LAGOS Five members of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) were
arrested on suspicion of gang-raping a teenage girl. The 17-year-old was
abducted and raped ten days ago in Ilesa, Osun state, after she refused to
testify against an opposition party at an election tribunal, it was
reported.Hundreds of petitions are being heard across the country to resolve disputes
arising from elections held in April that were so badly rigged they were
deemed not credible by international observers. The Action Congress Party,
which has challenged the election result in Osun that gave victory to the
sitting Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, said that the rape was part of a plan
to muzzle opposition in the state. ‘The girl’s only offence is that she was
present when a PDP chieftain was committing an electoral fraud in Ilesa
during the April election,’ a spokesman for the party said.Fraud and violence — mostly by the PDP — were so widespread in the election
that the main observer group called the vote a charade.A police spokesman said that the five suspects, all PDP members, would be
charged soon. Four other suspects are on the run. (Reuters)
Politicians arrested over gang rape
