Two men accused of r*ping two minors appeared before a Jos Upper Area Court on Friday.

The duo – Shuaibu Musa, 17, and Bashiru Mohammed, 19, who allegedly r*ped two minors aged 13 and 16, were charged with criminal conspiracy and r*pe.

The police prosecutor, Mr E. A. Inegbenoise, told the court that Mr Bulus Badung of Dawul-Bob village in Vwang District in Jos South, reported the matter at the `A’ Divisional Police Headquarters, On March 29.

Inegbenoise alleged that the accused persons, on the said date, accosted the victims at about 6pm on their way home and dragged them into a nearby bush. He said that when the victims put up a resistance, the accused persons tied them up with ropes and r*ped them.

“During police investigation, the accused persons confessed to committing the crime,” he claimed.

The prosecutor added that the offences contravened sections 97 and 283 of the Penal Code and could attract punishment of up to 21 years imprisonment, upon conviction.

The accused persons, however, pleaded not guilty to the crime when the charges were read in court. Counsel for the accused, Mr David Adudu, in a written application, prayed the court to grant his clients bail, quoting section 36(5) of the 1999 constitution that presumed an accused person innocent until otherwise proven.

Adudu said that if the bail was granted, his clients would neither jump bail nor interfere with police investigation.

The judge, Mr Mustapha Yahaya, admitted the accused persons to bail in the sum of N100,000 each, and two sureties each in like sum.

Yahaya said that the sureties must reside within the jurisdiction of the court and must submit, to the court, two recent passport-sized photographs and their national identity cards. He adjourned hearing in the matter to May 18.