Baba Yellow
An
85-year-old man known to the Somolu community as Baba Yellow on
Wednesday, escaped death at the hands of an angry mob when residents
discovered that he had sexually molested a 14 year old girl(name
withheld).
Policemen attached to the Onipanu police
division were said to have stopped the mob action by arresting Baba
Yellow and dispersing the crowd consisting of enraged mothers and petty
traders.
Before the intervention of the police,
the crowd had dragged Baba Yellow from his residence at George Street
and booed him through the community for over an hour.
A resident who identified himself as Olamide said, “The mob stripped and on the verge of lynching him when the police arrived.
“It was one of Baba Yellow’s neighbours
who discovered that he had been sleeping with the girl. The neighbour
had seen her leaving Baba Yellow’s room and he is notorious in the
community for sleeping with young girls.
“The girl’s guardian was immediately
informed and she raised the alarm after the girl confessed that Baba
Yellow had been having regular sex with her.”
The enraged guardian allegedly marched
to Baba Yellow’s house, where she engaged him in a shouting match after
she confirmed from his neighbours that her ward had indeed been a
regular visitor to Baba Yellow’s apartment.
A father of four grown-ups, Baba Yellow
lives with his wife in a one-bedroom apartment. However, the wife who
plies her trade at the Mile 2 market is usually away from home during
the day.
His victim told us that she met
Baba Yellow at Sunday market, Somolu where she had gone to purchase
some items for her guardian. She said, “He gave me some money and asked
me to come to his house. When I didn’t show up, he later came to my
compound to look for me. That was how we went to his room and had sex.
He has been sleeping with me for a month.”
We gathered that this is
not Baba Yellow’s first victim. For over the 30 years he had lived in
Somolu, the octogenarian was said to have served a prison term once for
molesting a young girl. Sources within the Somolu community said his
victims were many.
A mother, who identified herself as Mrs.
Biliki Usman said, “He already has a reputation here and most mothers
warn their daughters to stay clear of him. Yet he manages to always get
victims. There have been claims that he hypnotizes his victims. In 2005,
Baba Yellow was arrested and convicted of sexually abusing a
nine-year-old girl. He served three years in Kirikiri. In 2011, he was
arrested by the Alade police division for sexually molesting a nine year
old too. The matter was later settled and did not get to court. There
had been other countless arrests.
“Everyone is tired of him; he is a danger to young children and we just want him out of our community, forever.”
But Baba Yellow told the angry mob that he was lured by the 14-year-old girl.
He said, “Each time she comes to my
house, she would undress herself and ask me to look at her breast. You
can see she has been coming to me all this while on her own; she is a
flirt and spoiled child.”
It was learnt that the girl had been taken to Oguntolu General Hospital for medical attention.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations
Officer, DSP Ngozi Braide, when contacted said, “I will get back to you
when I have got the details of the
