Following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in Abia State, the Commissioner of Police Janet Agbede has reacted to the case, taking further actions to make sure perpetrators are brought to justice.
Earlier today, a coalition of stakeholders in Abia State have taken up the recent case of a 5 year old victim of alleged rape after a viral online video showed the mother of the girl crying out for help when she was turned away at an unnamed police station in Aba where she had gone to report the incident.
The coalition which includes the International Federation of Women Lawyers, the Wife of the Governor of Abia State and her Vicar Hope Foundation, and the Abia State Ministry of Women Affairs, today took the victim of the alleged rape and her mother to the office of the commissioner for police Abia State to make an official complaint about the incident.
However, as a result, the Commissioner of Police in Abia State Mrs. Janet Agbede, has swiftly directed an immediate transfer of the case from the local station where the case was reported to the a Special Investigative Team at the State CID for speedy investigation.
Recall that four days ago, the online media had gone agog with a video showing the woman crying claiming she had been sent away by police officers at a police station where she had gone to ask for help after she found out that her 5 year old daughter had been abused. The video was made by a passerby.
At first, the identities of the mother and the maker of the video could not be ascertained leading to several adverts put out by concerned Nigerians including the Nigeria Police through its twitter handle “@policeng_pcr”, asking for information from anyone that would help in resolving the case.
By providence, the special adviser to the Governor of Abia State on Teenage matters Chichi Umeseaka was able to locate the mother and child after a three-day search through the concerned Nigerian who had made and posted the viral video and brought the mother and child to Vicar Hope Foundation.
“It is appalling, sad,” Mrs. Umeseaka said. “We are sad that the number of cases of abuse are rising nationwide and this issues need to be confronted headlong. In Abia State we are ensuring that no room is found for people who perpetrator this kind of despicable acts. Our government won’t tolerate that”, Mrs Umeseaka added.
The coalition which includes the International Federation of Women Lawyers, the Abia State Ministry of Women Affairs, the Wife of the Governor of Abia State and her Vicar Hope Foundation, and Mrs. Umeseaka have vowed to see that justice is served on the perpetrator of the act.
According to Mrs. Chibuzo Ehiemere, who is state Chairman of International Federation of Women Lawyers, no stone will left unturned in efforts to bring perpetrators to book.
“We are not resting on our oars until we get justice for the little girl and her mother. As a group we have gone to the police command in Abia State to report the rape incident. I am sure the police command will take an administrative look into the matter.
There are protocols and proper line of action when things like this occur,” she said.
Mrs. Ehiemere commended the Commissioner of Police Abia State Mrs. Janet Agbede for taking quick action, and directing the immediate transfer of the case to State CID for speedy investigation describing her actions as reflective of a dedicated and sympathetic cop.
Already the wife of the governor of Abia State Nkechi Ikpeazu has provided temporary accommodation for the little girl and her mother and has undertaken to pay all expenses for the treatment of the abused child.
“Mrs. Ikpeazu has condemned in strong terms this incident and has determined to work hard to engage all relevant people including religious and community leaders to address the nationwide malaise as it affects Abia”, says Raymond Ukwa, programme officer for Mrs.Ikpeazu ‘s Vicar Hope Foundation.
“It is important that we find a resolution to this matter in other to serve as a deterrent to others. In contrast to what is being reported about Abia, we indeed have a robust response protocol for handling cases like this in our state. The coalition you are seeing here isn’t new.
We have worked together on several cases of abuse and violence. Many of them are in various courts while we have quite a number in investigative stages. In our society incidences like this must happen because we have social deviants. What is paramount is the speed at which they are resolved so that victims can have normal lives again.”
