Gardaí said yesterday that they were following a number of lines of inquiry following an incident in Cork at the weekend in which two Nigerian men were beaten up and a Nigerian woman was sexually assaulted before all three were abducted at gunpoint by a three-man gang.
The incident happened at the Mount Oval village in Rochestown on Cork's southside at around 1.30 a.m. on Saturday when three men called to the rented home of a Nigerian asylum-seeker and assaulted him, sexually assaulted his female cousin who was visiting him and stole a small amount of cash.
The three men - who are understood to have been armed with handguns - also assaulted a second Nigerian man who called to the apartment.
The raiders forced all three into two cars owned by the Nigerians before driving them across the city to Nash's Boreen in Fair Hill on Cork's northside where they left them out.
The three Nigerians managed to make their way to Mayfield Garda station where they reported the matter.
Garda technical experts have carried out forensic examinations of both the apartment and the Nigerians' cars.
According to a Garda source, the woman, who has only been in Ireland less than a month, was taken to the sexual assault unit at the South Infirmary Hospital.
Her cousin, who has been in Ireland for around three years, received an injury to his eye and received treatment at the Mercy Hospital.
"We are treating this incident quite seriously - firstly, because of the sexual assault and secondly, because of the use of firearms - we don't know if the handguns were genuine or imitation weapons - but to abduct somebody at gunpoint is a very serious matter and we're carrying out a full investigation," said a Garda source.
He ruled out a racist motive for the incident and also discounted robbery as a motive for the incident, which he described as "quite bizarre". He said it may take some time for gardaí to complete their investigation.
Gardaí are examining CCTV footage in the hope of picking up the route the gang took from Rochestown to Fairhill, and they've appealed to anyone who may have seen the two cars - a 95 C gold-coloured Mazda 323 and a 96 D cream-coloured Nissan Almeira - early on Saturday to contact them.
Gardaí say they are satisfied all three gang members are Irish.
Two of the men were around five feet nine inches tall, and the third man was slightly taller. Gardaí are anxious to speak to anyone who may have seen them in the Mount Oval area, or any taxi or hackney driver who may have taken a fare to the area at around 1.30 a.m.
The incident started at around 1.30 a.m. and went on until about 4.30 a.m. Anyone with information is asked to contact gardaí on the freephone number 1850 666 111 or the Garda station at Douglas on 021-4891115.