Woman accuses police of inaction over rape threat, assault

A woman, Victoria John, who is resident in Badna, a community near Abuja, in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State has accused the police of inaction over alleged threat of rape of her sister who is a minor. The woman, who spoke to our reporter, said one Robo, who is a native of the community, […]

A woman, Victoria John, who is resident in Badna, a community near Abuja, in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State has accused the police of inaction over alleged threat of rape of her sister who is a minor.

The woman, who spoke to our reporter, said one Robo, who is a native of the community, had been making love advances towards her 16-year-old sister.

According to Miss John, Robo had threatened to rape the girl if she continued to reject his demand.

She said she advised the man to stay away from her sister, as she was still a minor, but that he instead got angry and hurled insults as her, threatening to beat her up.

“He actually carried out his assault threat as, last Friday afternoon, he kicked me at the back and hit me severally before my cousin who was returning from work held him back,” she said.

She added that she reported the matter to the vigilante in the community, as there was no police station nearby, but that they asked her to forget about the incident.

“The man boasted that nobody can stop him from raping my sister. He even said he is a cultist in front of the vigilantes and that there is nothing we can do about it,” she added.

Miss John said she later reported the matter to the Jikwoyi Police Station, Abuja, being the nearest station to the community, but the police handed over the matter to the community vigilante to settle.

“We went with the police to the community to arrest the suspect but they started exchanging pleasantries. They told me that it was a minor case and that the vigilante should take over and settle it. They collected N4,000 from my uncle to fuel their patrol vehicle and later told me that my area is not within their jurisdiction,” she claimed.

She also said that after the police left, the man threatened to chase them out of the community if she continued to pursue the case, adding that they are now living in fear of what may befall them.

The uncle of the woman confirmed that he gave the patrol team N4,000 after he had paid N2,000 to the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) for the opening of the case file.

When contacted, the spokesman of the police command in the FCT, DSP Anjuguri Manzah, said he would make enquiries and get back but when he got back, he said the DPO of the division denied knowledge of the incident.

He asked for the phone numbers of those the complainants reported the incident to and that of the patrol team leader was forwarded to him.

Manzah called back to say that the command would investigate the incident and take appropriate action against those found culpable.