A Superintendent of Police identified simply as Emmanuel, attached to the Bori Police Area Command, Khana Local Council of Rivers State, has been detained over an alleged case of defilement.
The officer was detained at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Port Harcourt, on the order of the Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, for allegedly defiling a 13-year-old girl.
A relative of the survivor, who gave her name as Love, said the teenager went out on Friday, January 12, but did not return that day.
Love said the minor came back in the morning of Saturday, January 13. When interrogated, the girl confessed that she was held and defiled by a police officer in his office at Bori Area Command till daybreak.
She alleged the teenager said the police officer threatened to shoot her if she raised the alarm.
Love said following the revelation, she examined her and found that the girl had been defiled.
According to the relative, after she had reported the incident at the Bori Police Division, the girl identified the culprit. The survivor was then taken to a hospital by the Investigating Police Officer (IPO). There, a medical examination showed the girl’s hymen was broken, while bruises were noticed in her vagina.
A human rights organisation, Rainbow Watch and Development Centre, which has been following the case, called for unbiased and thorough investigation into the incident.
Executive Director of the group, Michael Gbarale, in a statement, commended the Commissioner of Police for arrest of the officer and transfer of the case to SCIID.
As at press time, the spokesperson for the Rivers Police Command was yet to respond to inquiries about the incident, despite messages and calls put across to her phone.
