Some years ago, I was raped by 5 guys. It happened on my way to school. We left Lagos late and got to Benin at about 5.30 pm. I felt since we were close to Delta, we wouldn’t stop at Benin. As we approached the bridge, some guys stopped the bus, hitting it with cutlasses. They were able to stop us and told everyone to come down. I remember I immediately threw my phone in the bush. They were asking where my phone was and I handed them my other small phone, thinking I would go back to get the other phone which I threw away. They asked us to lie down on the ground and they used our bus to rob other buses headed towards the same direction. 

While I was on the ground I was just praying the it should open up to swallow me. I’ve heard of robberies but I’ve never experienced one before. I wasn’t wearing anything revealing, but jeans and a top. One of the robbers came to tap me and he spoke in pidgin saying, “You! Stand up! No be you I see for Abraka wey dey curse my mama? Shebi you dey abuse me that day.” I said, “Me? Have you seen me before?” and that’s how he took me to a corner and raped me. The other 4 robbers took turns to rape me too without protection. Everyone in the bus knew and were all trying to console me. The robbers took every single thing we had from food to clothes to money and left us there at about 3 am. 

The police eventually came to help us. They took me to my house at school. When my roommate opened the door, the only thing I could do was cry. I couldn’t sleep. My roommate took me to the hospital and the doctors asked me to wait for 6 months before running tests (HIV etc.), but I was given some drugs. After 6 months, I went back to run the tests and I was negative. I didn’t get pregnant and didn’t catch an STD – it was just God. It took a while for me to get over what happened to me. I didn’t have emotions, I was just there and I would date for the sake of it. But with time, God helped me. I met my husband and told him all I went through. He was able to make me love again. We are now blessed with 2 kids.