THE Rivers State Police Command has arrested a 48-year-old man, Emmanuel George, for allegedly defiling a 12-year-old girl in Port Harcourt.
In a statement on Monday, the command’s spokesperson, Grace Iringe-Koko, a superintendent of police, said the incident happened on September 6 at Mini Orlu, off Ada-George Road, where the survivor, who was spending her holiday with her aunt, was assaulted while returning from an errand.
Iringe-Koko said that George, an Akwa Ibom indigene, residing in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, lured the girl into a parked tricycle before assaulting her.
“The suspect dragged the victim into a stationary tricycle, popularly called Keke Napep, tied her hands, covered her mouth to prevent her from raising an alarm, and forcefully had carnal knowledge of her before fleeing the scene,” the police spokesperson said.
She said operatives of the CP Strike Force promptly responded to a distress call and escorted the girl to the Police Hospital for medical examination.
“At about 2200hrs the same day, the suspect was apprehended through coordinated intelligence,” she said.
The police spokesperson revealed that items recovered from the scene included a bundle of rope allegedly used to bind the victim’s hands, a wrap of fufu, and the blue tricycle.
“The suspect voluntarily confessed to the crime during interrogation. He is currently in custody alongside the exhibits while a discreet investigation continues,” Iringe-Koko added.
Similarly, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Olugbenga Adepoju, reiterated the command’s commitment to ensuring that all perpetrators of crime in the state are brought to justice.
Adepoju also urged parents and guardians to closely monitor their children and wards, warning that predators often lurk within communities.
The ICIR reported that in Nigeria, six out of every 10 children suffer from one or more forms of physical, sexual or emotional violence before the age of 18, and more than 70 per cent children experience this violence repeatedly, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.