By Lanre Ibrahim
Lagos: The Lagos State Police Command has arrested the president of LGBTIQ Group in Bariga, Lagos State, Mr. Rueben Ayodele, who has been on the run since 2019 and is on the Police wanted list.
The said, Mr. Rueben Ayodele, has been hiding from security agents for over three years but was caught in the act of homosexuality with his partner Abimbola Shonibare in a hotel (name withheld). The hotel Staff beat him up, and he was later rescued by passersby and a vigilante group operating in the area.
Investigation revealed that Rueben Ayodele has been engaged in homosexual activities for years and have used his influence and connection to promote the activities of LGBTIQ in the Bariga Community and beyond. He was among the seven front-line LGBTIQ members that escaped arrest in Igbuobazuwa, Ovia South-West Local Government Area of Edo State.
According to media report, the escape became possible following a revolt that led to the death of one of their top members, Sylvia Igbolor, who was attacked in her community in Igbuobazuwa in January 2020. The transgender allege activist, Sylvia Igbolor was an active member of the movement for gender and social justice and freedom for a sexual minority group and a leader of the homosexual group in Okada, Ovia West Local Government Area, Edo State.
While the Police arrested Rueben Ayodele, his lover, Abimbola Shonibare, escaped as he went through interrogation and implicated one Adetunji Ismail Onibiyo and two others who he said were part of their member and are top leaders of the LGBTIQ group in this Community,
Adetunji Ismail Onibiyo is an agitator and rights activist for the protection of the sexual minority. Reuben claimed that Adetunji is a mobilizer of LGBTIQ in South-West and South-South and one of their financial sponsor of homosexual activities in Lagos.
Police background investigation shows that Adetunji Ismail Onibiyo was involved in the act of homosexual activities, yet the exact time is unknown. Still, the Police Investigating Officer (IPO) Inspector Adekunle Kolawole said Onibiyo’s first official arrest for the alleged crime was in 2006. However, the constitution did not recognize it as a crime then. It made it difficult to prosecute or charge him and others to Court.
He noted that Adetunji Ismail Onibiyo who was arrested in 2006, was incarcerated for over a year after Civil Society, human rights activists intervened in his issue. “Advice from Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) was to keep them in prison for longer, which the police lawyer warned against.”
Inspector Kolawole said, “Adetunji Ismail Onibiyo was implicated in a homosexual case in 2019 also”. His late brother, who was killed by mob action after his involvement in homosexual acts, also confessed to being an active member and was influential in his participation in the activities of homosexuals. The late Ibrahim Onibiyo admitted that his elder brother (Adetunji Ismail Onibiyo) introduced him to homosexuality while living with him in Bariga, Lagos State”. The late brother, who died a few minutes before arriving at the hospital, was said to be an easy-going, quiet, gentle man who usually participated in community service during environmental cleaning exercises and was known to most people in the Community.
Interrogating Ayodele, he said, “Adetunji Ismail Onibiyo is a banker and has over the years helped sponsor their group for different conferences and workshops and defend their activities in all ramifications.
One Timothy Akintunde, 25 years old, reported being molested for over two years by Adetunji Ismail Onibiyo, who influenced him through financial rewards and expensive gifts. He noted that he was getting assistance from him. Information revealed that Adetunji took advantage of the poor nature of the young man to influence him into homosexual activities.
Mr. Richard Akintunde, the father of Timothy, said they would not have discovered if not that the son fell ill and needed to visit a doctor. Medical examination revealed that he might be practicing homosexuality due to the discovery that there was an injury in his anus, and he could not walk properly.
“We appealed to him as a son to tell us how he got injured in his anus. We got shocked by his story as he narrated how he had secretly been having a sexual affair with Adetunji Ismail Onibiyo for over two years.
The Lagos State Police Command is still investigating the case. It has declared Adetunji Ismail Onibiyo, who is instrumental in the case, wanted, but his whereabouts are yet unknown.
Police are urging more victims of LGBTIQ to come out and expose the group to their nefarious activities to enable more evidence to jail those found wanting and deter those intending to practice this barbaric activity in our society from participating in any activities of LGBTIQ and its group. The Force is committed to working with anyone or a group of persons with any helpful information that will led to the arrest and prosecution of homosexual offenders.
